


I Was Just An Only Child of the Universe (And Then I Found You)

by haloud, MayGlenn



Category: Roswell New Mexico (TV 2019)
Genre: Alien Biology, Alien Power Dysfunction, Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, And The Aliens Actually Have a Planet and a Mythology, Angst, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Christmas Party, Developing Relationship, Domestic Fluff, Edgeplay, Eggpreg, Emotional Constipation, F/M, Family Planning, Giant Space Rabbits, Healing Sex, Light Bondage with Tentacles, Like Space Travel Sci Fi, Long Lost/Secret Relatives, M/M, Making Michael Cry In A Good Way, Multi, Oral Sex, Oviposition, Panic Attacks, Past Child Abuse, Polyamory, Porn with Feelings, Pregnancy, Pregnancy discussions, Shock, Smut, Telepathic Bond, Telepathy, Tentacle Sex, Tentacles, Therapy, Threesome - F/M/M, Xenophilia, and also tentacles, baby fever, tragic backstory
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-03
Updated: 2021-01-30
Packaged: 2021-03-03 23:47:29
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 60,540
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24954019
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/haloud/pseuds/haloud, https://archiveofourown.org/users/MayGlenn/pseuds/MayGlenn
Summary: An Antaran, a half-Antaran, and a human walk into a bar…Maria and Alex, co-captains of the Wild Pony, make an unexpected discovery at a seedy all-hours bar clinging to the side of some far-flung exoplanet. Michael, on the run from bad choices and worse luck, makes some unexpected friends.And they get very friendly indeed.
Relationships: Maria DeLuca/Michael Guerin/Alex Manes, Max Evans/Liz Ortecho/Kyle Valenti
Comments: 126
Kudos: 62





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> the tentacles are May's fault
> 
> the angst is Hal's
> 
> neither of us are sorry

“Well would you look at that, we never get Antarans in here,” Maria said, setting down the round of ales she had bought for herself and her crew—a crew that consisted of only her and Alex, but her crew nonetheless. 

It was both too easy and rather difficult to argue over who was the “Captain” of their small independent space freighter. She wasn’t about to let Alex call himself Captain just because he knew how to fly the damn thing and had been in the Space Force where he actually held that rank, when it was her ship, her capital and contacts and moxy that got them all their business deals and kept them in fuel and drink money. But competition was in their natures, the fuel to their lifelong friendship.

“How can you tell with all his clothes on?” 

“Rude. I regret ever giving you that information.” 

Maria was half-Antaran, herself, which meant she looked, talked, and sounded like a human, except for some extrasensory mental abilities—how she zeroed in on the Antaran in the first place—but underneath her flowing skirt, she had something else that all Antarans shared.

(Tentacles. It was tentacles.)

The man standing in the door was handsome, arrestingly so, with a fine jaw and full mouth and curls that fell into his eyes and caught the light as he swept his hat off his head. He could easily be human, except for the fresh smell of rain that cut through the haze of the bar and straight to Maria’s senses.

“Poor thing. Must have been a while,” she crooned, all faux pity with a sharp smile. 

It didn’t take him long to notice Maria and Alex watching him, and they got to watch him _notice_ Maria, the way his face changed when he breathed her in from across the room. It made Maria giggle to watch his body language change to something looser, something more languid. But he didn’t approach them right away, taking himself to the bar instead and turning his back to them, ordering himself a drink.

“Twenty credits says I’m taking that one home for the night,” Maria said, putting her hands on the table. “Possibly forever. We could use a...I dunno, whatever he does, right? I’m gonna go find out.” 

“You always call dibs on the pretty ones,” Alex said, leaning his chin on his hand and watching their new friend flirt with the bartender. “Twenty credits says I can lure him out of your bed and into mine.”

“Fine, but if we end up sharing him, it’s a wash. Not like last time.” 

The last time they shared a bed partner, Alex had made her pay him since they had technically been in his bed the whole time. The sneak. And he had the audacity just to laugh, like that had absolutely been his plan all along.

The Antaran man knocked back his first drink and called the bartender back, and in a couple minutes had his hands full and was making his way over to their table. He stopped at the empty side, looked at them both and then pointedly, politely dropped his eyes, and said with a cocky grin in his voice, “This seat taken?”

“It is now,” Maria purred, pushing the stool back from the table with her heel. She was a little surprised and more than a little impressed by his audacity, though she knew she shouldn’t have been: most people assumed she and Alex were a couple, which made dating more difficult for both of them and probably why they were both still single, but this Antaran clearly smelled her interest in him and could see Alex’s interest visibly, so, that was nice. “Anyone carrying Plutonian brandy is always welcome at my table.” 

Alex rolled his eyes just a little, but sat back and let this play out. 

“Name’s Michael,” he said. “What brings you two out here? Hope I’m not interrupting anything.”

But the smell of rain utterly _drenching_ him said that he very much hoped to interrupt them, possibly two or three times in one night, possibly for the rest of his life. 

Maria and Alex looked at each other, and then Maria relaxed with a laugh. She got kind of twangy, oddly, when she was flirting, and she dropped that. “You know I thought the threesome was going to be a much harder sell, honestly.” 

“God, DeLuca,” Alex said, pinching his brow in the kind of embarrassment you could only have for someone you loved very much.

Michael looked delighted, licking his lips as he looked between them again and shifted in his seat. “My ride’s not really big enough for three, but I bet we can make it work. I don’t take up much space.”

"Not if you're sitting on my lap," Maria said.

"But we're docked close enough to walk," Alex said. "Anyway, are we in some kind of rush?"

Alex knew something of Antaran sensitivity to pheromones, and knew that the longer he made them wait, stewing in each other's rain smell, the stupider they got, and the better time he was in for. "I'm Alex, this is Maria. We co-captain the _Wild Pony_. She runs it, I fly it. What do you do?"

“Little of this, little of that. Mechanic, mostly. Haven’t met an engine I can’t make purr.” His finger trailed around the edge of his glass. “Freelance, though. I’ve never worked on one ship full time. I’m told I’m bad at taking orders.”

Alex glanced at Maria. "Maybe you just haven't been given the right ones."

"Right," Maria agreed. "Maybe if we impress you, you can figure out what's wrong with my motivator. Pay's good."

"Benefits are better," Alex added, pursing his lips. 

And the way Michael looked at him at that, Maria could have strangled him. That was _her_ line! Alex’s smirk said he knew it, too, the bastard. 

“So what’s your story? How do an Antaran and a Human wind up co-captaining a ship?”

“Half-Antaran; we sort of grew up together.”

“Our parents were the opposite of friends, and I’ve always been a rebel,” Alex said with a shrug. 

"He needed a way out, and I needed a pilot," Maria confirmed. "We've been best friends ever since."

“Flirting aside, if your motivator’s on the fritz, I can take a look at it. That’s a hairy problem.”

“Business later. I wouldn’t want you to think you were auditioning,” Maria said firmly, and then leaned in. “I’m confident we’ve got more than one hole you might fill.” 

Michael’s vaguely flustered look now had Alex a little jealous, but he weathered it well. Sort of. 

“You know, maybe it is time to head back. We have a special occasion Kentucky-Earth bourbon barrel and we just stocked up on ice cream.” Alex was already standing, dropping some credit chips down onto the table, while Maria tried not to laugh—she had held out longer than he had, in the end. “Do we need to stop by your vehicle?” 

Michael looked a little shocked at that. “You actually want me to come back to yours?” But whatever it was that had him off guard, he quickly recovered. “Nah, I pack light. Got everything I need right here.” He hooked his thumbs in his belt loops.

Alex rolled his eyes and rested his hand low on Michael’s back, applying the barest pressure to guide him in the right direction. 

Even that tiny touch had Michael nearly panting, a spark running down his spine, a fresh wave of that rain smell washing over him. God, it was embarrassing. But it _had_ been a long time—yet another long, lonely jaunt through the black with nothing new to show for it. Maybe he could finally, at least, relax. Until he had to start his search for his siblings all over again.

“This your first day back in port?” Maria asked. She looped a hand around Michael’s waist, too, clinging to Alex’s belt on the other side of him. “You smell like you’ve just hit a real showerhead for the first time in weeks.” 

Michael’s answering laugh was sheepish but genuine. “Yeah, it’s been a lot of long hauls for me lately. And it’s just me in my rig, so no one to impress. Hope I haven’t overcompensated too much.”

He leaned into her just a little bit. There was just something about the warmth of another Antaran body…

It had been a _really_ long time. Maria could probably feel it, sense it, smell it. His telepathic abilities had always been weak for his kind, cramped and small from lack of nurturing, lack of exercise, but that didn’t mean those parts of him didn’t reach out to meet other telepathic entities. And he was strong enough, at least, to sense that she wasn’t pitying him, was really _into_ him, and that was all he really needed.

Alex’s hand was such a strong, steady pressure on his back, too, human but still warm enough to be felt through his clothes. 

How did he get so lucky? Well, there was still time to blow it.

“We’ve been back for a little while,” Alex was saying, and Michael tried to make himself focus. “Our last job was lucrative, so. But it was getting a little boring sitting around, wasn’t it?”

“Right,” Maria agreed, turning a corner and arriving at their ship. Her ship. Well, it was effectively their ship. She keyed in the code and ushered them through. There was something so achingly, desperately lonely about this Antaran—what little she knew of that side of herself, she knew Antarans didn’t do well alone—and she grabbed Alex’s sleeve as Michael went ahead. 

“Head’s just in here if you wanna, uh, freshen up,” Alex offered. “We’ll be pouring drinks in here.” 

Michael tilted his head and looked between them but seemed to accept that he was being briefly dismissed and went along with it, disappearing behind the door.

“He’s _lonely_ ,” Maria whispered, when they were alone. “Hurting. Looking for someone.”

Lonely was a big word for Antarans. Even Alex knew that. He could tell from the almost-grief in Maria’s eyes that what she was getting off of Michael was nothing good.

“So what do you think? Proceed with caution?” He asked. “I’ll let you take the lead, you can read him better.”

“Yeah, I don’t want to—he’s here for a good time, and I don’t want to deprive, ah, anyone of that. I just don’t want him to feel like he has to do anything just so he won’t be…” Maria swallowed, passed a hand over her face. Now she was putting off negative energy, too, so she reined it in. “Proceed with caution is fine. He’s safe. He’s good. He wants to be good.” 

Alex’s shoulders straightened, his posture firmed, and the smile on his face was so kind. “Well, we can absolutely give him that, can’t we?”

Maria hugged him. “Yeah.”

When Michael came out, though, he was looking a little harried, a little hunted. Maybe he had heard them, maybe he was just picking up the shift in the vibe, but he wouldn’t meet either of their eyes and already had his hat back on his head, though he didn’t make any move to leave.

“Thought you were pouring drinks?” He asked. “Let’s get this party started.”

“Of course!” Maria said, patting an entire barrel of bourbon. “You know, we don’t break this out for just anybody.” 

Alex poured two glasses, handing Michael the fuller one. “Tastes like home for me.” 

He moved slightly closer to Michael, forcing him to look at him. God, he was gorgeous, and now that Maria pointed it out, heartbreaking. Alex wanted to keep him forever, and he tried to make that thought sit at the top of his consciousness, the way Maria said it made it easier for her to read him. “You should let me kiss you after the first sip. Sound fair?” 

He relaxed just fractionally, but it lightened the entire room. “You drive a hard bargain, but I accept these terms.” 

He grinned around the rim of the glass and drank it, humming as it made its way down. “ _Ah._ That’s good. Y’all know how to make a guy feel special.” 

There was a wry twist to his words that still wouldn’t do, so Alex wrapped his hand in the front of his shirt and pulled him in to kiss it off him, wrapping his other hand around the back of Michael’s neck to hold him solidly in place. It took only moments for Michael to open up to him with a shiver and a breathy moan, and Alex only pressed in harder, taking the advantage given.

“Maria,” Alex whispered as he drew back, drunk with the taste of him. “You gotta—um, I think this is the best this bourbon has ever tasted.” 

Maria was already there, pressing against his other side, tucking herself up under his arm. “Oh, I can have that bourbon any time,” she said, and hooked her fingers delicately under his chin to guide him into a kiss. It was good, hot, but she instantly knew he wanted more direction, and somehow her fingers ended up in his hair while she kissed him. She drew back with a gasp only when she was out of air. “Forget what I said before. You’re hired, even if all you do is kiss us.” 

Michael swayed helplessly toward her as she pulled away, his free hand coming up to cup her shoulders, hesitantly at first, then firmer when she didn’t pull away. His thumb swept delicately up her collarbones until he hit the skin above her collar, a blazing-hot touch that made her shiver, and he shivered back in turn. 

“I accept,” he said dreamily, swaying forward again.

Never one to be left out, Alex moved behind him, placing his hands carefully on Michael’s biceps, leaning into the crook of his neck to murmur “This okay?” right into his ear. When Michael bobbed his head yes, Alex rewarded him with a kiss to the vulnerable pulse beating in his throat and straightened back up, running his touch in soothing, sweeping motions up and down Michael’s arms.

Maria watched them together, humming her approval, before she snorted and gave them a wry little smile. “I realize that might have sounded like I was offering to pay you for sex. And while it’s a noble profession, I’d much rather pay you to fix things and get the sex for free.” 

“It’s always about money with you, DeLuca, calm down,” Alex said, splaying a hand over Michael’s stomach and sliding it up his chest. “Let’s take this to a bed. I don’t do wall sex after the wars.” 

“Come on, my bed’s made, and closer,” Maria said. Her bed was also bigger, in the technical captain’s cabin that Alex had ceded to her for its larger closet. It _was_ the superior place to entertain guests, and Alex wouldn’t mind being able to go back to his own bed if he got too warm sleeping with two Antarans. 

So touch-starved he was already feeling a little drunk—though maybe human bourbon was just stronger than he ever knew—Michael needed a little encouragement in the direction of the cabin, Maria tugging him by his hands and Alex bringing up the rear, a comforting, solid presence at his back. Inside, Alex gave him the gentlest shove and Michael went right with it, tumbling down onto the bed with a playful _oof_ and rolling himself over to sprawl artfully across Maria’s sheets.

“Well, you’ve got me at your mercy,” he purred. “How can I be of service?”

“You know, Alex has never seen an Antaran naked besides me. How long do we have to tease you before you show us all your tentacles, hm?” Maria asked crawling up onto the bed beside him. 

“Oh god, not a lot, I’m so fucking easy,” Michael said.

“Makes me question my sexuality every time,” Alex commented. “Am I still gay, or was hentai just on to something?” 

Maria cackled, already working on the buttons of Michael’s shirt. 

“I’ve never been to Earth, is that an Earth thing?” Michael laughed, helpfully squirming out of all the clothes Maria got her hands on. 

“Yeah, it’s ahh—a long story,” Alex laughed too, “About how humans were into tentacles before any of us met an Antaran.” 

“Oh!” Michael said, surprised and a little delighted. Once his upper half was bare, Maria straddled his stomach, and it made Michael go still and quiet, looking up at her with hugely dilated eyes, hands resting lightly on her thighs. His throat bobbed as he tried to swallow, mouth suddenly dry.

“It’s, uh...it’s been a long time since I’ve been with another Antaran,” he confessed. “So, I, uh, sorry if…”

“Oh, honey,” Maria said, leaning down to kiss him and at the last minute deciding she wanted to lick his jawline instead, so she did. “Don’t be nervous. This isn’t an audition. I mean, unless that turns your crank.”

“Think about it this way,” Alex said, taking off his own shirt, “if you mess up, we’ll just make you keep trying ‘til you get it right.” 

“We can be very encouraging,” Maria agreed, making room for Alex and also stripping off her top.

Michael sat himself up, holding Maria in his lap as he kissed up her sternum, hands sliding up her thighs to rest broad and warm just below her hips.

“Tell me, Mr. Michael—you got a surname?—you don’t strike me as a shy type. Wanna be the example while I give my gay best friend here an anatomy lesson?” 

“Guerin. My name’s Guerin. And I am more than happy to be your willing mannequin.”

“A very pretty mannequin, Michael Guerin,” she said, trying it out. 

Alex laughed. He wasn’t like their friend Liz; he’d never paid much attention in Xenobiology. But the isolation of space got incredibly _boring_ at times, and a few years back, the first time he and Maria discovered they _wanted_ to share someone between them, they had ended up learning more about each other than they ever thought they would. And he needed to know Antarian anatomy for potential health care reasons, as he and Maria generally only had each other. So he knew a little how this worked. 

“I’m a quick study,” Alex promised, reaching over to run his fingers through Michael’s hair.

Michael leaned into it like a cat getting scratched. “How do you want me?” he asked Maria, flopping back down to sprawl prone across the bed.

“Just like that,” she said, “lay your head in Alex’s lap, and Alex can just...hold your hands out of the way for me.” 

Maria’s very small sample size of two Antarans—herself and a girlfriend in college—well, and her mom, but though she and her mom were close they did not talk about sex positions—she figured her kind liked bondage as a rule. I mean, the tentacles were already there, were already _for_ that, so why wouldn’t you be into that? But it’d be nice to test that out gently before broaching the subject, in case they scared this one off. 

If his reaction to her words and to Alex’s hands gently manacling his wrists were any indication, though, he wasn’t scared at all. He went utterly docile, watching and waiting for more orders. His hips were already starting to line with silver, even, a sweet sign of how keyed up and ready he was, so Maria ought to get this show on the road quickly.

“I thought you said you didn’t follow orders,” Alex asked, stroking Michael’s hair off his forehead. 

“Said I wasn’t _good_ at them,” Michael replied huskily.

“But I think you want to be good,” Maria said, kissing his sternum and tracing her hands down his hips until she hooked her fingertips under his trousers and slid them down his hips. They caught a little on his dick and already emerging tentacles, but he only hissed and grinned at her. Hmm, maybe he enjoyed a bit of a rough touch? She’d have to see. “Our blood oxidizes red just like humans, but it’s silver under our veins. See how dark his nipples are for a white guy?” Maria explained, teasing one with a fingertip. 

“Mm, yeah, I see.”

Michael arched his chest into Maria’s touch, and then again, harder, when she pinched down and he gasped, a sound of pure pleasure, eyes fluttering closed for just a second then fluttering open again, pure black, blown out, just a ring of gold around the outside. Alex rubbed his jaw absentmindedly, and Michael started to tremble, a little overwhelmed by being _touched_ and feeling...cared for. With these two strangers who would probably leave him waving them off on the dock tomorrow morning. But he would be so, so grateful for this night.

“And you just gotta start touching right along here to get these little babies to wake up,” Maria hummed, running her thumbs just under the girdle ridge of his tentacles. “See we have primary and secondary on each side. Is it true, Michael, that most Antarans are bisexual? Helps when you all have the same tentacles. Well, mostly.” 

Already hers were creeping out from under her flowing skirt, teasing along Michael’s inner thighs. 

She’d asked him a question. Michael had to wet his lips to be able to speak.

“I, um, yeah,” he said hoarsely, “We’re not generally, uh, very binaristic at all, lots of genders, lots of sexualities all mixed together, and um...family groups, ah, different sizes. It’s not prescriptivist.”

They didn’t need to know that he’d never been to Antar or that all of this information came from memories so hazy he couldn’t bear to touch them or from one Antaran family psychology book he’d stolen when he was fifteen.

Squirming, Michael spread his legs to give her more room to work with, arching his hips, wanting to feel them, warm and smooth and silky, against his bare skin. Alex still had his wrists pinned to the bed, and he pushed up on them just to feel himself get pushed back down.

“Well, I’m decidedly into dick,” Alex chuckled. “And I’m liking the look of the, ah, forest of phallic appendages.” 

“His sexuality is very confused when he sees my tentacles,” Maria whispered to Michael with a teasing grin.

“Sure, why don’t you tell him that on the first date,” Alex groaned, but he was tracing his thumb over Michael’s wrist, pleased to feel his pulse jump. “I guess if it’s the first of many, I’ll allow it.”

Maria fingered the ridges until the tentacles really emerged, grasping and clingy and sensitive, but she was sitting low on his thighs and Alex was holding onto his hands so he didn’t have anywhere to go. “Now here’s the fun part: watching them grow.” 

With that, she took one into her mouth, licking more for show than sensation, as both Alex and Michael gasped. It tasted the way desert rain smelled, and was already exuding a kind of slick that tingled on her tongue and everywhere he touched her, just like hers tingled against his skin. And sure enough, the short and rather thin tendrils were growers, lengthening and swelling as they filled with blood, Michael’s heart pounding to keep up. 

Alex sucked in a sharp breath. There was something undeniably _beautiful_ about the picture Michael made in this bed, from the way he couldn’t keep his eyes open to the way his chest rose and fell to—well, on some level a dick was a dick, and Antarans were humanoid enough for that to still hold true, but Michael had a very nice dick, and the silver patterns on his skin, the way each appendage whorled and joined to his body, the way they smelled enough of desert rain for Alex to smell it too…

He was a little bit in love.

Michael moaned through closed lips, soft and needy. Maria had to keep her hand gentle but firm on his thigh to give the other rack of tentacles something to cling to, and Alex felt a surge of jealousy, and released one of Michael’s wrists.

“Stay right there,” he said, and Michael obeyed, as Alex slid his own hand down and nudged Maria’s out of the way.

The first touch made him gasp. The silvery shimmer of them made them look almost synthetic, but the warmth of them was all organic through and through. The smallest tentacle wrapped around his index finger and clung there, almost tugging him closer to embrace his entire hand. 

“Ah!” Michael gasped as Maria massaged the skin between the base of each tentacle, four of them, two on each side, now fully extended. His cock was rock hard as well, but his hands stayed politely up by his head, exactly following orders.

“Very good,” Alex praised, and Michael shot him a look of surprise and a need so deep it almost _hurt._ And Alex wasn’t even telepathic. “Good,” he repeated, rubbing Michael’s wrist with his other hand, stroking one tentacle with his thumb.

“You—you want me to do—uhm,” Michael said, voice cracking as he tried to sit up, but Alex held a hand on the center of his chest. “You don’t want me to do anything?” 

“Just let us play for a bit,” Maria said, reaching further down, not quite touching his cock, rubbing under the third ridge. “Okay, where’s your tertiary pair, baby? Maybe you’ll show us if Alex takes off his pants, huh? Or we’ll have to find out what really makes you crazy.”

“Maybe I’m not _that_ easy,” Michael said in a sleepy drawl, arching his hips, swaying them back and forth, tentacles tugging with the motion as they refused to let go of Alex and as Maria kept up her slow stroking.

“Tell him he’s good again,” Alex whispered, leaning forward so he could reach more of him. He was mesmerized by how the tentacles curled around his hand. “You’re pretty fantastic just lying there, Michael Guerin. I’m gonna need to lie down when Maria lets you up.” 

“I know you are. You haven’t been fucked til you’ve been fucked by an Antaran,” Maria giggled. 

“Oh, is that what we’re doing?” Michael asked. He wanted to reach out and touch Alex at that, hold onto him a little bit, get a sense for the feel of his body so he knew how to please it, but he’d been told not to move, so it felt good to stay still.

“That is absolutely what we’re doing,” Alex said, leaning over to kiss Michael, bite his lips and lick into his mouth. “Mm, Michael.” He stroked one tentacle, the thickest around. “I want to know what it’s like—feel you holding onto me. Is that something you want?”

Lost for words, Michael could only nod, and arch up to kiss him again.

“Maybe we can teach each other a few tricks,” Maria commented. “I’ve only had sex with one other Antaran before, and she taught me how to fight those gripping instincts and really have fun.” 

She turned back to Alex, tossing her hair. “Maybe we’ll show Alex the time of his life. You’ll have to tell me how it feels to fuck him.” 

“DeLuca, oh my God,” Alex laughed. He had slid entirely onto his side now and tilted Michael’s chin toward him to kiss him languidly. 

“Don’t worry, I don’t kiss and tell,” Michael said between kisses.

Michael’s tentacles finally let go of Alex’s hand in favor of winding around his thigh, just long enough to circle all the way around. Alex didn’t even hesitate, looking at the lightly shimmering slick left behind on his palm, to touch it to his tongue and taste the light-lightning zip of it, the taste of rain on his tongue. He hummed and dipped his tongue back into Michael’s mouth to share that taste, and Michael was utterly limp, until he jumped and cried out when Maria finally touched his cock.

“There we are, beautiful,” Maria said, getting both her hands in on the work, since Michael’s third pair of tentacles were being stubborn, and it was almost going to give her complex at this point because Alex was half-naked right there. Maybe she needed to take off her bra, she thought, so she did, kissing his thighs and letting his tentacles caress her face as she began licking at the ridge that hid the third set. “He’s a little shy, this one,” she purred, still working a loose fist over his cock. “Alex, you know how to drive stickshift…”

“I can fly anything,” Alex said with a little in-joke grin as he took over touching Michael’s cock. 

Michael writhed and moaned and panted eagerly under two sets of hands, two mouths, Maria’s tentacles stroking his legs, his ass, his stomach, soothing and sweet and warm, but the longer she paid attention to where his third set should be, the less eager he got, tentacles losing their grip on Alex’s leg and shrinking just slightly from Maria’s hand, though his arousal never flagged.

Clearly embarrassed, he closed his eyes and turned his face away just slightly. “I, uh...one in four Antarans—” he couldn’t even get the joke out all the way, but forced a laugh anyway. “Look, sometimes it just—can we move on, please? I got a lot of talented other bits you’re gonna love.”

“Oh, okay, sorry,” Maria said, going with it, taking her hands off the third ridge and planting a single kiss there. “Thanks for setting a boundary. You’re a very good boy.” 

To confirm this, she kissed back up his body, where he smelled like jet fuel underneath the rain and sweat and bourbon smell. She wanted to tuck her face in next to his neck and breathe him in, and she did, before nibbling on his neck a little. “You want to show Alex how you can open him up without using your hands, beautiful?” 

Michael couldn’t do more than hum at the compliment, at the praise. He didn’t really know what he’d done to deserve it, but he wasn’t going to argue about it.

Alex grinned dazedly. “Motion seconded,” he said, and shucked off his trousers, revealing a right leg that ended in metal and wires: a bionic prosthetic. 

Michael’s tentacles crept back towards him, and he tilted his head to ask permission. At Alex’s nod, the appendages cuddled back up to his warm thigh, rolling down to the prosthetic and back up. He rolled over to get both sets involved, and Alex shuddered, rolling his hips into the strange but delicious sensation of four silky appendages cupping his hips, curling around toward his ass, licking at the vee of his groin, stroking around the base of his cock and lightly against his balls. 

The first lick of one of the tentacles over the crack of his ass had him grunting, then the second, slower pull, parting him, brushing against his hole, had him rolling back into it.

“Oh god,” he moaned, and Michael grinned, nuzzling into his bared throat.

“That’s it,” Maria purred, arranging them so they were all on their sides, with her as the biggest spoon and Michael in the middle. “Mm, you’re both so good like this. You smell so good, Michael. Don’t be shy, now, he acts like a big baby, but he can take it.” 

“ _Maria_ ,” Alex grunted, laughing as he got a hand on Michael’s hip. 

She was already using her own tentacles, six of them out now, to help Michael along. One was wrapped possessively around his cock, while the two thinner tendrils were slicking up his asshole, and already teasing him open. Her other tentacles were busy either gripping his hips or helping her masturbate, like only she knew how she liked. 

He hadn’t been told, yet, that he was allowed to move his arms, but with pleasure sparking all through his body he was willing to risk it to wrap his arms around Alex, holding onto his warm, solid body as Maria took him apart. Every roll of his hips made his cock brush against Alex’s cock, his stomach, and he moaned in pure, sensitized, physical delight. 

“You gotta tell me what you like,” he said to Alex, rubbing his hole, nudging just inside, thin as it went in then swelling, then retracting, a pulsing, constant sensation that was quickly driving Alex out his mind. “Wanna be good for you, wanna make it good. Tell me everything, I want— _unh…”_

“You’re allowed to use your mouth, beautiful,” Maria said. “And touch him with your hands. We can always try tying you up next time if we want to make it more interesting.” 

Given permission, Michael fell on Alex like a starving man, kissing wherever he could reach, hands gripping him so tight, just the right side of bruising. He was so _warm,_ deliciously eager, frantic need and joy at _feeling_ rolling off of him in waves.

“Good, very good boy,” Maria encouraged. 

“Touch me,” Alex gasped. “I want your um, tentacles on my dick. And _in_ me already.” 

“And how about what _you_ want?” Maria asked, wrapping another of her tentacles around Michael’s cock, as her thickest fourth pair of tentacles came out to play, nosing between his legs and getting everything slick and sticky. “Maybe I’m not going to let you fuck him until he’s nice and stuffed with your pretty tentacles. Maybe I won’t ever let you go at _all_ …” 

The sound that jerked out of Michael’s chest at that was almost a sob, way too close to a sob. He buried his face in Alex’s chest as his hips jumped and swayed, as the _ache_ in his ridges finally tipped over and his third set of tentacles slipped loose, so sensitive just the touch of the air had him crying out. At the same time he pushed one of his teasing appendages inside Alex, thrusting, finally filling him up, building and building each time it breached him until it was about as broad as two fingers, with another tentacle rubbing around his rim, waiting its turn.

His third tentacles didn’t move as freely as the others, staying close to his body, cramped and coiled tight and flinching every time he moved, but Michael didn’t care, nothing, nothing hurt, and he cried out again, his ministrations against Alex stuttering as Maria brushed the most sensitive spot inside him.

“Oh, sweet boy,” Maria purred, getting her hand between them and letting the third pair of tentacles curl timidly around her fingers while she kissed and nibbled on the back of his neck. He whined every time they were touched, soft, eager little things.

“Oh, hey,” Alex managed, seeing the third pair emerge. “Uh, those are different. I thought you all had—umm, four—” 

“Those are my ovipositors, Al,” Maria said, and if she was blushing a little, Michael was blushing a lot. “These are, well, nice and extra sensitive. Let me show you,” she said, and guided the thinner tendrils to release her fingers and wrap around Alex’s cock. 

“Oh! Hey, there we go,” Alex grunted, hips snapping forward. 

They were warmer and even softer than Michael’s other tentacles, curling and coiling and stroking over Alex’s cock as he thrust against them, head of his cock rubbing against Michael’s stomach with every pass, and the difference in texture drove him wild, chasing release, chasing the full, thick feeling inside him as well as a second tentacle slipped inside him, two tendrils moving separately inside him, stroking and stretching and Alex moaned, grabbing Michael by the back of his head to bring him into a fierce kiss.

Michael was _burning._ It was so much—it was too much. His head spun; he was helpless. He’d forgotten what it was like, almost, to have sex this way. He wanted to stay here forever, with Maria inside him, with Alex in his arms, in between them and completed. He wanted to close his eyes and stop time and forget that forever wasn’t real.

“Hey, whatever you’re thinking,” Alex rasped, stroking Michael’s cheek, “Stop it, look at me, just stay with us, stay right here.”

He rubbed his hand down Michael’s chest, trying to soothe him with touch, until Michael relaxed and Alex added his hand to stroke Michael’s cock.

“That’s right. Don’t wander off on us, baby, we just met,” Maria purred, kissing his shoulder, his curls (his dry, brittle curls, God, he needed her help with them, stat) and pulling Alex closer so that they sandwiched him between them with barely any room to move. Alex slid an arm under Michael’s neck, and Maria rested her head on it, too, turning to kiss his forearm. Her tentacles knew exactly what they were doing, coiled around the base of Michael’s cock while the rest of them busied themselves filling him up and filling herself up. They didn’t quite vibrate (that girlfriend in college could, though, wow that was a skill) but they writhed and wriggled and twined together inside him and inside her at the same pace. “You want him to fuck you with his dick, Alex? Or—or you happy like—” She felt around, and spoke to Michael: “Get all four of them in there, Michael, he can take it, I promise.” 

“Ha—didn’t know, humans...didn’t want to hurt you,” Michael said, nuzzling the side of Alex’s head, his ear.

“You won’t. You can’t. _More_ ,” Alex said, and Michael obeyed. 

“Fuck! Oh, fuck, yeah, _unh,_ ” he moaned as Michael’s third and fourth tentacles slid inside him at once. He was so _full,_ inside him hot and writhing and pressing in all the right places all at once, while two more tentacles stroked so sweetly along his cock, between his thighs, against his perineum—

“Alex,” Michael whispered, then, “Ah! Maria—”

It was the first time he ever said their names, and he bit down on his lip to try and keep any other sound from escaping, to keep from giving away too much.

“That’s it, yeah,” Maria said, fucking him roughly with her tentacles—but not too roughly, because he was so precious—but definitely hard enough that Alex felt it, too, on the other side. She gripped him with her arms and extra tentacles, kissing him and biting his ears, his neck, pulling his hair to smush his face against Alex’s until they were kissing, too. 

“Yes, fuck yes, give it to him,” Alex groaned, grabbing Michael’s face and kissing him breathless. 

Things grew urgent, friction increasing between them. Maria wanted to grip him with her tentacles but she also wanted to fuck him with all of them, but she also needed some to fuck herself, and it was very difficult to get so many limbs to obey. Alex throwing his leg up over both their hips reminded Maria that she had legs, too, and these could grip, allowing four and _five_ tentacles to slip inside Michael, stretching and slicking him until he whined. This left one curled around the base of his cock, keeping him on the edge since Alex’s hands were busy elsewhere. 

“I’m gonna—I’m—” Alex gasped, and was the first to come, striping Michael’s chest and his own as they kissed, and Maria kept fucking him. 

Michael shuddered and rolled his forehead against Alex’s, hands coming up to cup the sides of his neck, legs going limp as the wave of Alex’s pleasure washed through him too. His tentacles slipped out of Alex’s body to wind around his hips and legs, tying them together. One tentacle wiped through the mess between them and it was suddenly gone, something that made Alex let out a breathy laugh. Convenient, that. He didn’t totally know what was happening, but Michael _purred_ when Alex held him around his waist, held him close, rubbed in between his ridges and around the base of each tentacle.

“Ah!” Michael yelped. Tied together, he couldn’t squirm back against Maria the way he had been; he was even more helpless now, pinned into place.

“That’s it, that’s it,” Maria encouraged. “Just keep holding him like that, Alex. He likes it.” 

“Hell, _I_ like it,” Alex hummed, endorphins flooding through him. “You gonna let him come, ever?” 

“Maybe,” Maria purred, then laughed, the tentacle gripping the base of his cock loosening and winding its way up and down his shaft. “Just kidding. You ready to come for me, baby?” 

“Please! Ugh, _nnh,_ fuck, please—”

Maria’s tentacle squeezed around the head of his cock and it pushed him right over the edge, coming in the space between his body and Alex’s. Michael made the most delicious, catching, whimpery noises as he shook through the pleasure, body clenching around the tentacles inside him.

“Oh, pretty, pretty, pretty,” Maria said, turning Michael’s head and kissing him around the gasps and whines. “I want to take him for a few more test drives, Alex, but I say we keep him.” 

Michael shuddered at her words, not quite believing them but not willing to argue.

“I agree,” Alex said, kissing him tenderly. “Do these tentacles have a refractory period?”

“They kinda want to cling for a bit after, you know,” Maria said, “otherwise it’s just like humans. I always gotta wait, as usual.” 

“Ooh, Michael, don’t make her wait,” Alex encouraged. 

He blinked down at where he and Alex were tangled together and, slowly, started rubbing them at the base to get them to retract a little to free Alex, so Michael could get himself into position to give Maria what she needed. It was easy, too, the thought of his mouth on her pussy pumping arousal through his veins and livening things up again down there.

As the tentacles peeled away from his skin, Alex slid his own hand in their wake, chasing the warmth, the slight tingling they left behind. He’d just have to make Michael come again later, lock them together again, so they could enjoy it to the fullest. 

On wobbly limbs, Michael crawled across the bed to Maria and knelt in front of her, waiting to be told what to do, again. Her own tentacles came free from his body, but were clearly seeking somewhere to go again. 

“Oh sweetheart, come here,” Maria purred, her tentacles flicking over his skin. “I want you to impress me, Michael Guerin. You tell _me_ how I want you.” 

He turned his head to kiss her tentacles, let them play against his lips, took them in his mouth with the slightest pressure, sucking and swallowing down her slick before they pulled away to pet his face and neck and shoulders. One tentacle still worked lazily in and out of her as she fucked herself, and Michael crawled up closer between her legs, cupping her knees to guide her legs over his shoulders. He looked up at her just for a second, and she grinned—it was a very sweet angle for him—then he dipped his head to kiss along her tentacle to where it disappeared inside her, then continued forward with his tongue, stroking against her folds and then _up,_ directing his attention toward her clit, alternating firm and soft strokes, moaning against her.

“Oh—oohh, you’re fucking magic,” Maria said, throwing her head back. She pulled her tentacles out of her with a slick pop and they all went back to caressing Michael. When she concentrated—she wasn’t very good at this, but—she could choose which one got biggest, or longest, and some of them she made even long enough to fuck him, too, curl around his body and press into him. Even Alex had to admit he was aroused by the sight. 

“Oh, Michael, if you give head half as good as that you’re—I’m gonna—we—”

“You’re not even touching him and he can’t even finish a sentence,” Maria smirked, touching his hair to guide him, but he was good, he followed her guess, let her tentacles position him just where she wanted him, and his tongue was better than any tentacle she had ever felt. “Such a good—yes!” she said, tentacles winding around him and pushing up inside him again as she came. 

Gasping, Michael licked her through it, rubbing her thighs with his warm, rough hands, and when she pulled him away, giggling and oversensitive, he kissed a line from her groin up her stomach until he was resting his upper body in her lap like a large cat, curled into her warmth. His tentacles looped around hers. With his head pillowed on her hip, he could place light kisses against her sensitive girdle ridges and, if he turned his head just a little, blink his blown-out eyes at Alex and grin at him, licking his lips.

“Want you too,” he said. “Wanna taste you.”

“You can in a minute,” Maria said. “Come here, Alex, you gotta hug him after sex or he’ll think you hate him.” 

Alex chuckled. “I know how to be party to a threesome, DeLuca. I don’t need you nagging me.” 

He stretched all along Michael’s back, pinning him between him and Maria with his weight. 

“Oof!” Maria laughed. “You’re heavy! And crushing my tentacles. They just wanna keep fucking him for some reason.” She shrugged helplessly. “Mind of their own.” 

Michael’s tentacles reached out to Alex and welcomed him in before he even got close enough to touch, four of the six binding him in close while two stayed clinging to Maria’s. His eyes fluttered shut and he drifted on top of the emotions swirling around the three of them, feeling more connected than he ever had. Need still pulsed inside him—he needed _more,_ longer, wasn’t ready to let go—but for just that moment he was at peace, held in between two bodies who wanted him, who enjoyed him, who felt good because of him.

Alex stroked his hair, murmuring sweet nothings against his skin, against his lips. “I’m so glad we stayed in port one more night,” he said, kissing Michael’s forehead. “God, you’re incredible.”

Michael hummed. Words were hard right now.

"What do you say we pick up your transport tomorrow?" Maria asked, also petting his hair, letting her tentacles have their way with him. "And you ride with us for a while?"

"We haven't even seen him work on a ship and I wanna keep him," Alex agreed, snuggling close to him. 

"Where are you docked?" Maria asked. 

“Mm...not too far,” he mumbled, rattling off a dock number just a dozen spots down from where they were. “Went straight into the first bar I found,” he added. There was something, some reason he should say no, get out of this bed and off this ship before something bad happened, but sleepy and sated he could barely remember…

Ah. Right. Someone would be looking for him.

Please. Just a little more. He could leave in the morning, before anyone else awoke. This was a Human-Antaran ship, its circadian system would run similar to Michael’s own, he would get up and be gone before anyone knew, just...one night.

Alex could feel the tension in Michael’s body and rubbed his back, urged him into relaxation, or doing his best. Moving down, his fingers found those ridges again, the spot that made Michael nearly purr when he was happy. He shared a worried look with Maria.

“If you don’t want to stay, we’ll respect your wishes, Michael,” he said, very softly, very seriously.

"Don’t you want to stay?" Maria asked, understanding some of what he was feeling if not all of what he was thinking. 

“I do, I want to,” he said. That, at least, was the full truth. “I want to stay,” he repeated. 

“Okay. Good.” Alex looped his fingers through the fine curls at the back of Michael’s neck and kissed him, warm and wet and lazy, tongues stroking together, exploring each other. 

By unspoken agreement, Maria and Alex made it a point to spoil their companion, plying him with drink and a few rare delicacies, a shower, and several more rounds of fucking. At one point, when it was very late, he looked like he was going to leave and they actually lured him into the engine room, got him just a little excited, and fucked him up against the bulkhead. 

They all slept like babies when they stumbled into bed (Alex’s, this time, as it was less messy).


	2. Chapter 2

Alex, not Michael, woke first. 

He didn’t always sleep well after the wars, and he definitely didn’t like being overly warm, so he stole from bed in the wee hours of the morning. Maria and Michael’s tentacles had all retracted by now, so they just looked like two cuddling humans who were just soaked in rain smell. He felt...either proud or smug, looking down at them. Maybe both. Definitely happy. 

He made a cup of coffee and got mostly dressed and staggered blearily to his pilot’s chair to read out the news and nav chart updates for the day. Maria had a few comms waiting for her, which probably meant business, so that was good, but he didn’t open them. No, instead, because he liked to be careful, he looked up Michael Guerin, Antaran, on the Net. 

He wasn’t sure what he’d expected, exactly, but it wasn’t this. His screen lit up red with warrants, and Alex’s heart plummeted to the floor. But the longer he looked, the more alarmed he became on Michael’s  _ behalf.  _

Runaway. Fugitive. Oathbreaker. Lots of different words in many different languages all filtered through the translation software, all saying the same thing. He signed a contract to spend fifteen Antaran years working mechanics on some godforsaken corporate freighter, but less than halfway through the term, he fled the ship and disappeared into the alleyways of Lo Tie, one of the largest ports in the galaxy, and had been on the run ever since. 

How old was Michael now? Couldn’t be more than thirty, which made the date signed sit in the pit of Alex’s stomach like a rock. There was a picture of him in his contract file from that day, and for a moment Alex was lost in it. Hollow cheeks, sullen eyes, rounded shoulders—maybe sixteen or seventeen, a child. 

Alex searched for more information—parents, family, something about where he came from—and found...nothing. The earliest record of him was as an eight year old found wandering and mute in the hold of a salvage ship, and the rest of his history was a string of engine room apprenticeships and cabin boy gigs, until he ran. Every paragraph written on him was so short it was almost brutalist. Alex had to take deep, slow breaths.

He and Maria had taken on bounties before, when work was slow. Most independent vessels did. It was a big galaxy, and bounty work could be honest—returning wanderers home, seeking information or supplies for those in need. After the war, Alex had balked at the prospect of working enforcement, no matter how he believed in the law.

But there was no question of never turning Michael Guerin over to the reality of corporate debtor charges. Alex flew through the ship’s startup sequence. They would grab Guerin’s rig and get out of here and—well, if Guerin had a problem with it, even after last night’s agreement to stay on, they’d hook up the umbilical, get him over to his ship, and cut him loose. Even if the thought made Alex’s chest ache.

Maria woke to the engine rumbling, and Alex calling out to her. It had taken some work to get the telepathic bond working between them, but it was occasionally useful. 

_ Maria. Need you in the cockpit. _

Michael was still completely out, though they were tangled together, and getting up took some work. Michael whimpered softly, but Maria kissed him, saying, “Shh, I’ll be right back,” and tucking pillows and blankets around him like a nest until he went back to sleep. 

She threw a dress on and slipped outside. They were obviously taking off, as she noticed that subtle shift of the ship’s onboard artificial grav kicking in. 

“What is going on out here?” she hissed. 

Jerking his head toward the monitor still displaying what he’d found about Michael, Alex spoke as Maria began to read. “He said he wanted to stay, so I made an executive decision. This place is crawling with bounty hunters or, hell, just opportunists. We’re getting out of here.”

He eased the ship into position and engaged the hitch to tow Guerin’s ship, swiftly bypassing the ID locks keeping it tied to the dock.

“Oh—oh my  _ God _ ,” Maria said, reading quickly, and picking up on some of Alex’s nausea at the sight of it. Michael wasn’t just lonely, he was  _ alone _ , and always had been. She didn’t blame Alex for his instinct to run away with him, play keepaway with the universe. She pulled herself away from reading the rap sheet too late, but asked, “Do you need me to do—anything?” anyway. 

“You could check your mail,” he said, waving his hand vaguely at her console. “Give me an actual heading. Or you could go back to bed, which might be the best place for you right now. Keep Guerin from freaking out, uh...right away, at least.”

“Okay. Okay,” Maria said, not actually moving as she watched Alex hack and hijack Guerin’s tiny transport free of where it was docked: it looked like a  _ speeder _ , barely spaceworthy. Guerin might have said he wanted to stay with them, but this still felt a little like a kidnapping. “Maybe I can get his ident, fill out the departure paperwork so we don’t get the cops after us for stealing this—” 

“It’s unregistered. Who’d want to steal this bucket of junk, honestly, DeLuca?” 

“Oh. Okay.” Maria rubbed her eyes, grabbing a data pad so she could do something useful while going back to bed and hugging the snot out of Guerin. “Might need you to hack into the bar security so he doesn’t show up on the scanners there.” 

“It’s on my to-do list,” Alex said. “Get me a heading, please. Ping me.” 

“Okay,” Maria said, taking a deep breath and heading back to bed. 

Michael was still asleep, looking positively angelic. He looked  _ safe _ , nothing like those horrible haunted wanted posters, those orphan intake pictures, his various fake idents. She wanted to make him look like this forever. 

So she slid back into bed next to him with her datapad and checked her comms. As soon as her weight settled, Michael rolled toward her, tucking his face into her hip, hand coming up to hold her thigh. He was still sleeping, if lightly, just apparently drawn to the nearest body, same as he had been after dozing off at last the night before. 

He didn’t sleep for much longer, though, and he woke confused, disoriented by the light levels—it was late, god, hours later than he normally slept—and then he registered the artificial gravity and shot up.

“What’s going on?” he demanded, snatching his underwear from the side of the bed—the only piece of his clothing that made it from one bedroom to the other. “Where the fuck—where are you taking me?”

He wasn’t in cuffs, so that was something. A little something. A tiny candle flame against the towering gale of panic, betrayal, and pain rising in his chest as his mind flew in a dozen different directions. They knew who he was. They seduced him to catch him and collect the bounty. They were going to ransom him to some rich, nefarious relative. The Antaran government wanted him for some reason. The  _ Terran  _ government wanted him for some reason. They—

“Hey, hey, easy, Michael, easy,” Maria said, surprised by him going zero to 60 while she was distracted communicating with clients. She dropped the datapad and held up her hands, aware that his telekinetic abilities were probably stronger than her telepathic ones. “Nothing’s wrong. We found out about you and thought we’d get off-planet before anyone else found out. We’re not interested in any bounty, we want to help you—”

“My  _ ship,  _ fuck, you have to take me back, I need—”

“Michael!”

Her voice cut through the fog and his mouth snapped shut, but he took a step back, toward the door, like he was bracing to run.

Maria held out her hand, voice softer. “We want to help you. Come here, mind-link with me so you know I’m telling the truth.” 

He shook his head, taking another step back. His mental powers were seriously weak—he wouldn’t be able to push her out of his head once she got in there, if this was a trick…

“We’ve got your ship, it’s safe. Alex hacked it to hitch it to our rig, it’s fine. We tow things all the time. Please, Michael.”

He let out a tight, bitter laugh. Why not, right? They  _ found out about him,  _ apparently. 

...And even if they hadn’t mind-linked last night, connecting with her at all felt good. Was it too much to hope that it still would today, in the harsh morning? Probably. But apparently loneliness made you fucking stupid. He took her hand.

“It’s alright. It’s  _ all  _ alright,” she soothed, kissing his fingers before pressing his palm to the center of her chest. “Is this right? For you to read my mind? Maybe we both don’t know a lot about where we come from, what we are. But, ah, we could muddle through together?” 

He didn’t reply, just closed his eyes. Frankly, he didn’t know what was best for mind-linking; he hadn’t done it much, and it was a guarded enough secret that he hadn’t found any books about it either. This seemed...good enough.

Her mind brushed against his, a gentle probe, like holding out her hand to a wild animal, but all the gentleness in the world couldn’t stop Michael from flinching away at first touch. She tried again, equally soft, not pressing but inviting, and he breathed through it, letting everything fall away but the feel of her skin and the pounding of his heart.

She showed him exactly what she’d seen that morning, waking up at the hitch of gravity, finding Alex harried and determined (and brave and protective) in the cockpit, reading about Michael, all the way to how she’d felt seeing him sleeping. And as soon as she was done showing him the truth, she pulled away, and so did he, letting his hand fall back down to his side.

“Okay. I believe you,” he said, but he was still...off-kilter. Last night, they asked him to stay, and the answer was so easy, but he hadn’t expected…

Them to have meant it, he supposed. He had still been planning to wake up and slip out before breakfast. Before he’d be missed; before he’d be a burden. But now he didn’t have that option.

He turned his back to her. “I’m going to find my clothes.”

“Right, sorry,” Maria said, tugging Alex’s robe off the back of his door. “Here, you can wear this. Sorry we didn’t wake you, you—you looked like you needed the sleep.” 

Michael said nothing, pushing through the door. 

“I do mean it: we want to help,” she called, but if he heard her, he made no sign. 

Instead, she wandered back to the cockpit, letting Michael have the space. The reverb from him reading her mind made her unsteady and craving...craving her best friend. Needing a hug. Was this how  _ he felt all the time _ ? 

“Alex? H-hold me.” 

“Maria?” He turned around in his chair and opened his arms, hugging her tightly when she sat on his lap. “What happened? What can I do?”

“Hold him, too,” Maria said, but seemed to want this to happen later, as she tucked herself under his chin. “He’s scared of us, Alex. We can’t let him run, but we can’t  _ seem _ like we’re not letting him run. I want to keep him. Can we keep him? I don’t care if he’s not really a mechanic—” 

“Oh, his credentials are real. I ran some scans on his rig; he must be a  _ magician  _ to keep that thing spaceworthy. Forget the motivator, he could completely revolutionize how—” Alex cut himself off. “But I’m getting ahead of myself. You’re right. It’s not about what he can do for us. I want to keep him, too...but he’s a person, not a pet, and we—or I, really—did basically kidnap him. I may have overreacted a little.” He squeezed Maria tighter. “I know he felt what we felt last night. The three of us belong together. We’ll figure it out, okay?”

"Okay, you felt it, too," Maria confirmed, and felt a little better. Worlds better. If practical and calculating Alex Manes had felt a Connection enough to take action on it, then it wasn't just a fluffy hippie nebulous feeling of hers. It was real. "I need to make some calls. You want to talk to him? We can set down somewhere and get his rig in our cargo hold or...or let him take off, I guess."

Maria  _ did not  _ want to let him take off, but she wasn't sure she should say that aloud. 

Alex’s arms tightened around her again at the suggestion, but he forced himself to take a deep breath and calm down. 

“Yeah, I’ll go find him.” He stood up and deposited her in his chair, making her laugh. 

He followed a hunch that led him straight to the engine room, where he paused just for a second, listening to the sound of the ship, the sound of Michael at work inside, and took a deep breath to gather his emotions. 

He let his footsteps be loud as he entered and approached Michael, giving him plenty of warning. Michael’s shoulders were tense, body shrunk into himself, but he didn’t run away, which was...something. He left Alex to wait for a minute or two, then put his tools aside, shut the panel on the motivator, flipped his mask up, and gave Alex a shuttered look.

“What do you want?”

“Uh,” Alex said, wondering vaguely why  _ he  _ had been given the ‘go talk to him’ job. He wasn’t really good at talking to people, but he got the impression maybe Guerin wasn’t, either, so maybe that would work out. “I came here to ask what you wanted to do, but, uh. I think I should probably apologize.”

“Apologize for what?” Michael tossed a pair of pliers into the toolbox and it hit with a loud clang. He gave Alex a tight-lipped smile. “I did say I wanted to stay. And hell, I wasn’t going to pay the docking fees anyway. Looks like you did me a favor.”

“Well, I paid them for you, so we didn’t add another petty crime to your...” Alex shrugged, though he immediately got the sense that he wasn’t supposed to do that, or say that. “Er. Less than 24 hours, it wasn’t much: I’ll take it out of whatever I owe you for—this.” 

Alex shifted uncomfortably, already turning towards the door like he was just going to say his piece and bolt. “I’m sorry for not waking you up to ask if you were ready to go. To make an actual plan. Semi-kidnapping you. That was all me, you shouldn’t be mad at Maria for that.” 

A muscle ticked in Michael’s jaw. “I’m not mad at Maria. Or at you. At least, not about the running from the cops part. My entire life I’ve been shunted around without anyone asking my input; I can actually tell if it’s friend or foe doing it at this point. I just don’t understand why—I won’t lie, I kind of thought the ‘do you want to stay’ stuff was just pillow talk. You don’t even know me...or didn’t before this morning’s little research jaunt, I guess, and I don’t see why that would have endeared me to you.”

“I mean,  _ you _ two are the telepathic or empathic or whatever species. From what I gather, you’ve got a good—um, that you’re worth it. And we—I—we do want you to stay, having you here felt—feels—I, ah, I hope you’ll give us the opportunity to  _ get _ to know you,” Alex said, and then he actually did panic, and fled from the room. 

He felt idiotic almost immediately, but he couldn’t well turn back around without looking like an absolute turkey, so he just headed back to the cockpit, waited until Maria was done with her comm, and said, “I think I fucked up again. I need you to cook me something to bring to him.” 

“I’m not cooking for you!” Maria hissed. “What did you say?” 

“I’m just an idiot,” he groaned, sitting hard in his chair and putting his head in his hands. “I completely blew it. I even brought up money, what the hell is wrong with me?”

“Alex!”

“I know! So you have to help me try again. It’s hours til the nearest landing, and we’re all stuck with each other at least until then.”

With a worried glare, Maria sat aside her datapad. The two of them bickered all the way to the galley—or, at least until they could smell it, at which point they fell quiet and hurried in as fast as they could without running outright.

Michael expertly folded an omelet and flipped it in the pan. He was in yesterday’s clothes all the way down to his boots, his hat hanging off one of the chairs, like he was ready to walk right out the hatch, yet here he was, plating breakfast. 

“Eat up,” he said, not acknowledging them any other way.

“Oh, my God, he  _ cooks _ ,” Maria said, going actually weak in the knees and clutching Alex’s arm. 

“Of course he does,” Alex said, and coughed. “Michael, that smells—”

“Amazing,” Maria continued, making a pot of coffee while Alex got out plates and split the omelette into three. 

“Sit with us, Michael, please?” Alex asked. Luckily, they had three stools, though the third did not get much use. “I’m sorry for, ah, researching you without your consent.”

“If it helps, he’s paranoid about everybody. He worked in Intelligence during the war,” Maria said, bringing coffee to the table. 

“Right,” Alex said, and suddenly he knew the answer to Michael’s question as to  _ why _ . “From the age of 18 to 25 I followed orders and thought that I was bringing peace and order to the galaxy. What I actually saw was lives destroyed and families ripped apart for the gain of governments, monarchs, and corporations. Ever since I got out, I try to help people, not countries, and not laws.”

“And you underestimate the kind of impression you make,” Maria added. “Sorry we came on a little strong.” 

“Look, I’m sorry too. Therefore—eggs,” Michael said, and his smile was softer this time. He turned off the range and sat, arms resting on the table. “I don’t exactly have friends. People wanting to know about me rarely ends well. So if you had asked, I probably would have thrown myself into the vacuum of space before I answered, so. No hard feelings.”

Alex chuckled, and Maria waved at his share of the omelette. 

“Eat, please. You’re a wonderful chef, but it would be more wonderful if you joined us. And we could talk business? Or that can wait for a shower. We have a good reclamator and a good head, even though we have to share.” 

Her eyes lit up, but Alex put a hand on her leg. “Leave the guy alone, we worked him too hard last night already.”

“It doesn’t hurt to  _ ask _ ,” Maria said with a wink. 

“Oh, trust me, I’m a  _ very  _ hard worker,” Michael purred. 

He tried to let Maria and Alex take their food first, only for Alex to swap their plates as soon as he sat down, leaving Michael with the fattest middle piece. He shot Alex an uncertain look but elected not to make a scene about it.

“I’m fine to talk business now, as long as my musk doesn’t offend you,” he said, dropping his eyes to the table.

“If by ‘offend’ you mean ‘give you an unfair advantage in negotiations because I could eat you alive’...” Maria began, but in her defense, once she cleared her throat and set a datapad between them she was all business. “Engineers can get anywhere from between a 7% to 20% take of profits minus shared expenses, depending on the size of the crew and the age of the ship. I think we’re prepared to start you at a 20% cut, with steady increases until we’re all taking 33%. In exchange you keep us flying, and, if you wanted to cook sometimes, Alex will do the dishes.”

“Excuse me?” 

“ _ We’ll _ do the dishes.” 

Michael scanned the datapad, put it back on the table, and leaned back. “Go ahead and get to the part that isn’t too good to be true. And understand that we’re all going to be taking each other’s word on this one—I’m not signing shit.”

“It isn’t too good to be true, it’s a fair cut. You fixed the motivator in less than two hours, Michael; we want you to be part of our crew, and this is how we want to divide things up.”

“What if I say no?”

_ Ah, there it is _ , Maria thought. No way a man had that kind of history, being thrown or running from one shitty situation to another, without growing some sharp teeth. She had been waiting for the prickly attitude to make an appearance, and while Alex's face went hot with anger when Michael threw a generous deal back in their faces, she forced herself to remain calm. 

"You can get out at the next stop. I'll give you 20% of our last take which amounts to about 1,200 credits, we'll fill you up with fuel as an apology for the joyride, and you can be on your way. But we really hope you'll at least give us a trial period."

It was kind of a bluff, as the 1,200 would have to come out of her own savings since they'd spent a lot of the last cut already and were vaguely strapped for cash until the next job, but she was prepared to pay it. "Parting with the money will be the lesser heartbreak," she told him evenly.

Michael’s fingers drummed incessantly on the tabletop. That muscle ticked in his jaw again, and he wouldn’t look either of them in the eye.

“And what if I say yes? This place got a guest cabin, or are you two just gonna flip a coin?”

"You mean I might poison her coffee to keep you to myself," Alex suggested, but only Maria laughed. Michael didn't seem to think it was funny. 

"I was thinking we'd clear out and lock down the secondary cabin bay. You can bring your...transport" (this was generous) "in there and the whole thing can be your space. But yes, I'd say you're welcome to my bed any time."

"Or mine," Alex interjected. "Or ours. We really can share."

"Or we can cowboy up if you'd like one or neither of us. But that's hardly business talk. You don't have to sign anything, but we could shake on it, even just for a week, or a month."

“I can’t—” Michael cut himself off. “Look, no matter what my rap sheet says, my life isn’t actually just in and out of ships and cells. Whatever it may look like, there  _ are  _ actually things I need to do. ...People who need me. I can’t just—what I want doesn’t matter, okay? I  _ can’t.”  _

They were losing him. Alex jumped in. “We’re freelancers. If you need to get someplace, we can just...take jobs in that direction. And we can provide backup, contacts, resources. We can  _ help. _ ”

"You'd be a member of this crew. Maybe set your sights on co-co-captain, someday, if you're lucky," Maria teased, before growing serious. "What are you—who are you looking for?"

He picked up the datapad, tapped out a search, then showed it to them. A picture of two children, around eight years old, and a smiling human couple. 

“The kids. They’re my...siblings, I guess. Something must have happened to our parents, because we emerged alone, in the hold of a salvage ship. When the crew found us, they brought us to an orphanage at the nearest port. Those two got adopted by a nice Terran couple, but I was, uh. Left behind. Until I ran away a few years later and started jobbing my way across the galaxy. I need to find them. Even if they don’t want anything to do with me...they’re all the family I have. I have to know.”

"I'm sure they'd want to know you," Maria said aloud, though internally she thought this fixation might be unhealthy. 

“How old would they be now?” Alex asked. Michael tapped out something else, and the image changed.

“Same as me. Max and Isobel Evans. They have lives,  _ normal _ lives, they should be stable, static, but every time I get close they’re just...gone. Maybe they know I’m looking for them and do it on purpose. I don’t know. But Isobel is sitting her mind-healer certification at the University of Skain in two months so...that’s where I was headed next.”

"They have a right to know you're okay, and you them," Alex agreed carefully. 

"I just made a deal to move some cargo near here, if you don't mind a three-day detour? I have some contacts in the Skain system, so we could definitely head that way…" Now Maria read the fine print. "They're...nobility?  _ Lady _ Isobel Evans?" 

“So maybe not that normal,” Michael said with a wry smile. “If they tell me to get lost, they tell me to get lost. But I have to try.”

He stood up and collected their plates. 

“Right,” Maria said, following him to the little sink. “So, deal?” 

She held out a hand. Alex stood behind her, her handshake standing in for his (okay maybe she really was 1% more captain than he was). 

Michael looked between the two of them, studying their faces, then some amount of fight just went out of him, shoulders slumping.

“Deal,” he said, and shook.

“Great. Business settled. How about pleasure?” Maria asked, grinning at little. “I don’t know how it was for you, but I don’t think we can make it any clearer how much we enjoyed last night, and how much we enjoy your company. Even if you didn’t want to be part of our crew I hope you wouldn’t be a stranger.” 

“Neither one’s a condition of the other,” Alex confirmed. “I want that to be perfectly clear.” 

“Oh, fuck, yeah—” Michael actually laughed, a real eye-crinkling, sheepish laugh, and he ruffled his hair. “—Yeah, clear as  _ ‘al’on _ , fuck. Last night was...it was...uh. I don’t actually know how to describe it.”

“We’ll take ‘good,’” Maria grinned. “Or even ‘just what I needed.’”

“I needed it, badly. I don’t think I could go back. So regardless of anything else I might do or say, however much I might suck sometimes…”

“Hey. None of that.” Alex cut in. He took a step forward, and another when Michael didn’t flinch, and he cupped his cheek, rasping his thumb against stubble. “We’re not going to throw you out of the airlock for any relationship growing pains, okay? Maria and I have things to learn about you just like you need to learn about us. It’s a two-way street, okay?”

“Y-yeah,” Michael said. He said it with just a little hesitation, pretending to know this was true when he didn’t believe it at all. “Before I woke up semi-kidnapped, I was already thinking about getting a burner comm system just so I could...call you again.”

“Ooh, a wanted criminal on the lam, risking capture just to speak to us,” Maria giggled, hugging him from behind while Alex boxed him in in front. “How romantic.”

“Yeah, I’m a real charmer,” Michael said, with a breathless little laugh. 

Alex pulled him into a kiss, wasting no time, taking no prisoners, biting out the edge he’d felt since reading about Michael that morning. He wanted,  _ needed,  _ to feel him in a real way, a hurting way, a healing way, a way that stuck and stung. Burn away the mental image of him starving and glaring out of a silver-blue hologram. Michael made a shocked sound but melted into it, moaning when Maria slid her hands under his shirt and nipped at his neck.

“Maybe nobody should bother showering yet,” Maria suggested, pushing Michael’s shirt up to kiss a line up his spine. He still smelled like rain, goosebumps raising over his sides like water droplets.

“Or we shower together,” Alex suggested, raising one eyebrow. 

“That sounds dangerous.” Michael protested, breathless. 

“You haven’t seen our shower,” Maria laughed. “It’s practically suicidal.” 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if you're not here for tentacle porn getting interrupted by michael's depressing intrusive thoughts idk what to tell you

Michael settled himself and his truck into the cargo bay well. For a while, he didn’t move anything out of his truck, and Maria and Alex were pretty confident he slept there. 

He also wouldn’t take the 1,200 credits they promised him—thirty minutes of work was more in the range of 100, he insisted—so they bought him things whenever they were in port: a space heater, a hammock, eventually an actual bed—not that he spent much time in it. 

Tonight, they were all out together after a big delivery job, enjoying a lively bazaar with music, food, and cheap wares. 

“This is like Crash Con when we were kids,” Alex told Maria. 

“Except the food’s cheaper,” Maria said, returning with some sort of meat on sticks for everyone to try. 

Michael took one of the skewers and chowed down without a glance, but Alex ate more carefully.

“What’s Crash Con?” Michael asked. Maria slipped her arm through his, and he didn’t bother trying to hold back a little smile.

“It was a local convention in our hometown—commemorating the first time aliens came to earth, or at least that’s what some people thought. The truth was covered up for a long time, but the Con kept going long after the cat was out of the bag,” Alex said.

“Huh. Shady.” Michael looked around them, slightly overwhelmed. Colorful lights played over him from nearby stalls, glinting off the flecks of gold in his hair. “I don’t know if I’ve ever seen this many beings in one place before.”

“You normally avoid crowds? I thought it was easiest to hide in crowds,” Maria said. Her face was covered with sauce, and she was trying to keep her hair out of it. 

Alex handed her a napkin. “Not if places have any kind of electronic surveillance, though it is still easier. I scanned this place when we landed: local law enforcement only.”

“Why do you think I chose it?” Maria grinned. She had missed a spot on her nose. 

Michael leaned over and kissed it off, then kissed her cheek. 

“I don’t _avoid_ crowds, necessarily, but I got...lost, in a lot of them, when I was a lot smaller than I am now. So I might have elected to take extra shifts over going ashore a time or two, sure.”

He didn’t sound upset, but Alex moved closer anyway, sliding his hand into Michael’s back pocket, making Michael grin at him shyly. 

Maria took his hand and squeezed it. “Well, we won’t let you get lost, baby. Alex, you remember how Liz would always go tearing off into crowds? _That’s_ a girl who could get excited, get herself lost, and then start crying and get the whole carnival looking for her Papi, who was always right where she left him.”

Maria stopped them at a booth that had some knitwear, but it was mostly sweaters and things. They were looking for blankets. This place was near a spaceport, one of the booths had to sell blankets… 

She stopped, eyeing Michael and Alex. 

“What?” Alex asked. 

“Wondering if I could put you two in matching sweaters.”

“We wouldn’t want you to be left out,” Michael said, so saccharine sweet that Alex rolled his eyes and pinched him.

“Eyes on the prize, Maria,” Alex said. “Anyway, if anyone’s getting matching sweaters it’s obviously you two. Sweaters with, I don’t know, tentacle holes in them.”

“Oooh, kinky.”

Maria cackled at that, giving up on the sweaters and flitting away to the next booth, where she was distracted by earrings. She had more earrings than any one person needed, especially since she only had the two holes (and only the two ears) and not many places to wear them, since a lot of her time was spent in deep space slubbing around in bralettes and sweatpants. But somehow she always wanted more. The bigger the better. 

“Maria…” Alex sighed, trying to drag her away, before she shrieked. 

“Hats! Michael needs a hat!” 

“He’s already got a hat!”

“A _new_ hat! This one is old,” Maria said, flicking the brim up.

“I could have another hat, but these ones are pretty expensive…”

“And just think, if you let us pay you, we wouldn’t have all this money to buy you frivolous things with,” Maria said, but both Maria and Alex nudged him and clung to him, as if they could distract him from any bad thoughts with enough love. 

They continued wandering through the market, stopping every now and then—Alex, consumed with lust for instruments and lost to browsing stacks and stacks of sheet music, Michael needing to be dragged away from a lengthy, passionate ramble about zero gravity hydroponics from a plant seller with an increasingly fanatical look in his eye the longer Michael spoke. 

“You’re _our_ engineer,” Alex said, light like it was a joke, but he was about two seconds from promising Michael every unused inch of the _Pony_ he wanted to have his space garden in, just to make him happy. 

“Oh, trust me, I know.” And they kissed again to seal the deal. 

Their original goal was simple. The cargo hold that held his speeder and doubled as his living space for now could get desperately cold, so Michael needed all the blankets they could find, so desperate were Maria and Alex to give him a space of his own, to make it clear again and again that his body wasn’t part of the deal, wasn’t a commodity they were trading on in addition to his engineering skills. The best part was that Michael seemed to _enjoy_ shopping for blankets, as much as he enjoyed shopping for anything; he had an adorable tendency to nest, even stealing from each of their beds magpie-like. 

But no matter how simple their plan was, they were having too much fun to stop, to let go of each other even for a second. Call it the honeymoon phase, but being together, the three of them, was perfect in a way that was impossible to describe, so none of them tried.

“I have snacks,” Alex declared, just when Maria and Michael were trying to find out where he went. 

“Are those…” 

“I think they are! Guy who sold them to me looked human enough.” 

“You ever had a churro, Michael?” Maria asked, mouth already full of sugar-cinnamon-dough. 

“No, I don’t think—oh my god.”

He cut himself off with a rapturous moan and devoured the churro in as few bites as possible, even licking his fingers when he was done (to the distinct interest of Maria and Alex).

“We should go to Earth sometime,” Michael said, eyeing Alex’s churro like he was about to fall onto it like a starving raccoon. “Earth has really good stuff.”

“But it ain’t got you,” Maria grinned, hugging him again. “Look, I see blankets!” 

Alex led the way to the stall, going straight to the back wall for the thick, wool-blend blankets in a variety of colors. He ran his hand over them, nodded to the shopkeeper, and turned to Michael. “See anything you like?” 

Michael fingered a thick, handsome midnight-blue blanket stretched across the side of the stall. His telepathy wasn’t getting much stronger for being used more, but he still thought he picked up enough from Maria to know the right answer here.

“Maybe I want you two to pick out what you think is best. Maybe we’ll end up sharing,” he said casually, shoving his hands in his pockets.

“Ohh, he’s doing it again,” Maria said, following one hand into his pocket. “Trying to trick us into bed with him.” 

“Maybe something loud and...flaming,” Alex suggested, finding one that was every color of the rainbow before one emblazoned with electric guitars caught his eye. “Okay, no, I actually kinda want this one.” 

“And we lost him,” Maria said. 

“We have a special! Two for 300!” the shopkeeper called. 

“Come on, baby. It’s okay to have an opinion,” Maria coaxed, squeezing Michael’s hand in his pocket and rubbing against his tentacles—unless that one was his dick. “Imagine the three of us laid out on your new blanket. Which one is in your wildest fantasy?” 

“Maybe nothing quite that colorful,” he said, though he still grinned when Maria took the rainbow blanket from Alex’s hands and draped it around Michael’s shoulders. 

Alex laughed. “True, I guess. Too bright and you won’t get any sleep at all.”

“I don’t know, I want something that feels like...home. That’s probably stupid. It’s just a blanket—a new one, even. But. Yeah.”

"Okay, like Antar-home? I thought you didn’t remember it, and I’ve never been. I’ve seen pictures,” Maria said. “Of, like, the sunset…” 

She selected a blanket that was still pretty flaming, but faded from navy blue through purple and green to bits of pink and orange. “Like this?”

“I’ve never been to Antar either,” Michael said, running his fingers across the fine weave of the blanket. “If these are the colors of the Antaran sunset, I’ll have to take your word for it. By home I just meant....nevermind.” But his smile stayed soft and genuine, not even the slightest unhappiness crossing his face. He turned to Alex. “Pick one out for me that reminds you of Earth, then.”

Alex didn’t have to think long. He selected one that was every shade of brown and red imaginable, shot through here and there with strands of a blue so brilliant Michael hadn’t even known it existed. There was a geometric pattern going across it in black that had Alex muttering something about appropriation, but also where were they going to get an actual Navajo blanket all the way out here? 

“You want three? Special offer: 400, take it or leave it,” the shopkeeper said. 

“Uhh,” Alex said, fishing out his credits. 

Maria grabbed one with a giant unicorn on it. 

“Is that an Earth animal?” Michael asked, too innocently to not be faking it. 

“Sorta,” Maria said, either way, and gave Alex her share of the credits to pay the guy. “Ooh, this one’s soft. You may have to come take it from me.” 

“Oh, my dastardly plan’s working already. Nice.” 

Of course, even though they’d only been traveling together for a few weeks as the on-board timepiece, set to Earth time, kept count, all three of them already knew that it was the fate of any blanket within radius to end up in Michael’s possession one way or another. Even when they were all in bed together Michael was a complete blanket hog, like he could never get warm enough. More than once, Alex had thought about demanding Michael take his cabin and let Alex sleep in the cargo hold when they were apart, but he already knew Michael well enough to know that suggestion would go over like a lead balloon, and Maria punctuated that knowledge with a sharp elbow to his ribs.

Michael was either totally unaware or just ignoring them, because he hefted the package of blankets and beelined for a stall he’d been eyeing as they shopped, selling spare parts and upgrades.

Maria and Alex glanced at each other and followed him. 

“You’ve got 342 credits of your money left and 600 for ship maintenance,” Maria said, standing behind him, completely unable to see whatever he was looking at. Maria and Alex each took a blanket from his unresisting arms so he could really look around. They weren’t even sure he had heard them. “Just nothing too flashy. The _Pony_ ’s a practical girl.” 

“Don’t believe her,” Alex said, poking around after Michael with vague interest. “She still wants racing stripes on her when she drinks too much tequila.” 

“The _Pony’s_ fuel efficiency is fucking tragic; you’re still using the original Atlantean valves, which tells me more than anything else you’ve never taken her to a mechanic that gave a damn about anything but money.” He gave an offended sniff. “And don’t even get me _started_ on her klystrons—I thought about scuttling my rig to—but, well.” He cut himself off awkwardly and went back to rummaging through a nearby bin.

Alex and Maria exchanged a glance, teetering on the edge of a gleeful realization that Michael was almost at that stage of committing to stay with them for the long haul.

“Well, we can probably afford parts now, but you’ll have to wait til our next job for me to pay you for labor,” Maria said. “But we’re headed toward the Skain system for a delivery, so should get enough from that for what I’d owe you.” 

“You could take it out in trade in the meantime,” Alex suggested in a low voice, right behind Michael. 

Michael’s attention was pulled by that, and he turned, so close their chests brushed together, so he could purr, “Go ahead and put it on my tab, will you?”

Alex grinned. He had the blanket rolled up over his shoulders, so his arms were up there, too, and Michael slid his hands around him, and he could almost swear he could feel Michael's tentacles beginning to perk up beneath his trousers. "I'll make a note."

" _Okay_ , let's make some purchases and get out of here," Maria suggested. Hip-checking Alex as she sauntered past them. 

In the end, Michael only bought a set of valves, luckily getting them at a discount _before_ sharing his opinion on the klystrons for sale here vis a vis the already substandard ones on the _Pony_ and getting chased out of the stall altogether.

All three of them laughing, they wound their way slowly back to the dock and back on the ship. Most of their purchases ended up left just inside the airlock, but the blanket over Alex’s shoulders stayed, as Michael used it to pull him in and kiss him deeply, a disbelieving blissful joy swirling around him in the kind of emotional miasma only an untrained telepath could cause.

“Whoo,” Maria said, almost floored by it, by how much Michael wanted it and how happy he was to know he could have it. She wrapped the unicorn blanket around Michael from behind. “I’m not sure you’re safe to release on Antar yet. We’ll be beating them off with a stick.”

“We’re very jealous lovers,” Alex suggested, excluding each other from that claim by virtue of saying ‘we.’ He kissed Michael’s neck, deepening it into a sucking bite. “You’re being so psychic even I can read you.” 

Maria was already working at Michael’s trousers, getting them unbuttoned and her hands slid down inside. He hissed in relief when she tugged them down and his tentacles could stretch out, clinging immediately to both their hands on him. His third set still took a _lot_ of coaxing, but they would get there. They always did.

“Screw Antar,” he murmured, pulling Alex back in to get back to devouring his mouth.

It was embarrassing, sure, to be so transparent in his joy when all he’d had was bitterness and isolation for so long. It was…exposing, and Michael growled at the thought that anyone would—would try to take this away from him. Before he was ready.

(Which would, of course, be as soon as Maria or Alex were ready to let him go. He was a pro at not overstaying his welcome. He would be fine. He would be _fine._ )

Alex shuddered under his hands and moaned in delight as Michael’s fingers dipped beneath his waistband, and that warm sound chased his thoughts away.

They had blankets right here, and _Maria_ didn't need lube, so she used her thick ovipositor tentacles to bend Michael at the knee so he went down. 

"Maria! Bed!" Alex snapped in irritation as Michael going down destabilized his bionic leg. 

"By the third round, I promise," she said, curling her fingers into Michael’s hair and aiming his mouth right at Alex's dick. 

Michael nuzzled the front of Alex’s jeans and stared up at him, so sweet and eager, until Alex stroked his cheek with one hand and fumbled his pants open with the other, giving him all the permission in the world to strip him down and get his mouth around his cock. Alex dropped his hands to his sides, bracing himself against the wall, granting Maria all the space she needed to take hold of Michael by his hair and hold him down, gulping and gasping and moaning around his mouthful, until she let him up and he started a quick rhythm, stroking Alex with his tongue, applying such perfect pressure that this was doomed to be over _quick._

“God, you’re too fucking good at this,” he moaned, head clunking against the hull wall when he rolled it back loose on his shoulders, twitching his hips minutely into the welcoming clutch of Michael’s throat.

Michael moaned along with him, hands wrapping around his thighs to encourage him. 

Alex came with a gasp, so fast he barely got to enjoy it, but he knew there was more where that came from, and there was something deeply satisfying about being blown by a guy who could suck the chrome off a trailer hitch, even probably those electromagnetic ones. He slid down the wall weakly as Maria yanked Michael onto his back into her arms and tentacles for a kiss. Her tentacles were already getting grabby with him, curling around his cock and spreading his legs. 

“My turn, when you’re ready,” she said, already removing her underwear. She didn’t know why she bothered, really, they were already soaked through.

One of Maria’s tentacles wrapped around Michael’s ankle and yanked him an inch or so across the floor, making all three of them laugh and Michael crawl the rest of the way double-time, kissing his way up her inner thigh and burying his face in the vee of her legs, taking her thighs onto his shoulders and lifting her up, using his TK to brace her as he did it, his powers cradling her carefully. 

He jerked away to gasp when one of her tentacles started stroking his ass. “Fuck, Maria—!”

“Just warming you up, baby. Alex is gonna need a minute,” Maria hummed, one tentacle sliding around the back of Michael’s neck to keep him in place, and while the others started teasing and slicking up his asshole, she didn’t notice the free tentacle winding all the way around Michael’s throat with a mind of its own. 

Michael’s tentacles looped around Maria’s, helping her slick him up, holding onto her, except for one that stretched out seeking Alex, which he met, scooting across the floor to let it wrap around his hand. He occupied himself by kissing up the length of Michael’s spine as Michael sucked at Maria’s clit, stroking inside her with two fingers as he worked.

He _moaned,_ and Alex felt the wave of shivers run through his whole body, when Michael felt the tentacle around his neck press against his Adam’s apple, not restricting any air, just hanging heavy and _present,_ collaring him. 

“Oh _fuck,_ ” he groaned, swallowing just to feel that pressure _more._

“Oh, you like that?” Maria hummed, only just now realizing what her tentacles had been up to and liking very much the picture he made like this. Like a constrictor, her tentacle looped around his neck a second time, the tip of it just under his chin. With focus, she could move his mouth wherever she wanted like this, though the tentacle instinctively wanted to plunge into his mouth or her pussy, so it took some effort. 

Alex grinned and wrapped his hands around his waist, rewarding him with teeth against the top of his spine when two of Michael’s tentacles looped around his wrists and squeezed him hello. Of course these tentacles drew Alex’s hands towards his cock, since no one had touched him there except Maria’s tentacle looped around the base of it and teasing just the head. He knew what Michael wanted. 

“I think you should wait until _someone’s_ fucking you,” Alex hummed, since Maria’s tentacles were still just teasing his hole and he was nowhere near ready to fuck anything yet. He ran just one fingertip along the ridge on the underside of Michael’s cock, adding to the teasing. 

“Engineers who don’t take their goddamned paycheck finish last,” Maria grunted, throwing herself back into Michael’s telekinesis as he sucked hard on her clit and made her come. 

If all her tentacles briefly tightened around him, around his dick, thighs, and throat, well, he seemed to enjoy it. 

And enjoy it he did, gasping and slumping back into Alex’s waiting arms as soon as she released him. Alex kissed the side of his head, and he let Maria down gently.

“So wait, I’m in trouble for _not_ taking your money?” He laughed when they were all done catching their breath. At least one of the blankets was already going to need to be washed, and he felt a little bad about it, but mostly he was floating on more endorphins than he thought his system could handle. He let his eyes fall shut and more of his weight lean back onto Alex, a smile creeping onto his face.

“Trouble is a strong word, but if you’d like to be in trouble, we can always play with that,” Maria said, and shrugged. One tentacle was still curled around his cock, just squeezing it maddeningly while the tip played over his slit. “Can you blame a girl for looking for excuses to tease her boyfriend when he takes it so well?” 

“Can we please go do this in a bedroom now?” Alex asked, since he was sure he could stand now. “And I vote we wreck Michael’s bed while we wreck Michael.” 

Without waiting for a reply, he heaved Michael to his feet, keeping a hold of both arms, since Maria’s tentacle was still holding onto Michael’s dick. It fell away reluctantly to let him walk, though none of them kept their hands to themselves the whole, fumbling way to Michael’s cargo bay bedroom, shedding clothes and giggling and having to stop, once, to press Michael against a doorframe and take turns fingering him where he was slicked by Maria’s tentacles, making him moan and squirm, cold metal pressed against his feverish skin.

It was cold in the cargo bay like it always was, but when all three of them tumbled into bed, they warmed up quickly.

“Oh fuck, fuck me,” Michael moaned at the first renewed touch of Alex’s hand against his hole, working his thumb inside and tugging him open.

“Patience is a virtue,” Alex laughed, leaning in to lave his tongue across his hole, making him yelp.

Maria’s tentacles were swollen and restless, all eight of them wriggling all over Michael’s body, spreading his legs wide for Alex’s benefit, winding back around his throat and his cock, and tangling up with Michael’s own tentacles so he wouldn’t get any smart ideas. 

“He said he wanted you to fuck him, Alex, he said nothing about coming,” Maria teased, letting the tentacle around his neck do what it wanted which was slide inside his mouth, battling his tongue like a kiss, stuffing his mouth so he was reduced to just indignant noises at the prospect of not coming. “And I think I want you to fuck me with _these_ pretty little tentacles, baby.”

She ran her fingers around Michael’s yet-to-emerge third set of tentacles. 

“Nnnh!”

Alex sucked hard against Michael’s rim one last time then pulled away, grinning sharply. He made Michael cry out again when he slid two fingers inside him and sought out his prostate, rubbing it firmly.

“What do you think it’ll take to bring them out to play, hm?” he asked, raising an eyebrow at Maria.

“Promising him they’re the only way he’s allowed to fuck anybody,” Maria said, her fingers being very gentle but very insistent. She kissed the edge of Michael’s lips, around her tentacle which was enjoying having its way with his mouth. 

Alex chuckled, getting up on his knees behind Michael and stroking himself to full hardness. “Maria, you want to get your friends out of the way? I’m not sure I need their help.” 

“Double-penetration with a girl’s tentacles is a little too hetero for you, huh?” Maria teased, reaching around to take Alex’s shoulder when he glared at her. “Just kidding! You go at it.” 

“Wasn’t waiting for your permission, was waiting for his,” Alex replied primly. 

Michael moaned around the thick tentacle in his mouth, working his tongue until he could speak around it. “Fuck me!” he demanded, and Alex laughed, dropping a kiss between his shoulder blades and lining himself up.

As he sank inside, Michael’s arms wobbled, his head would have fallen all the way down if not for Maria’s tentacle sliding back under his chin to support him and keep him up on all fours.

Alex leaned forward, hands firm around Michael’s hips, to murmur in close to him. “You feel so good, Michael. So good for us. We’re never letting you go.”

Michael cried out again, and sure enough, those sweet, heavy words were what got his third set of tentacles to unfurl, reaching out for the closest source of heat and love.

“OH, good job, Alex,” Maria moaned, sliding underneath Micheal a little bit and spreading her legs for him. “You got ‘em out!” 

It was like hitting the jackpot every time, and Alex felt smug, like, he may not have impossible tentacles but his _dick_ was powerful enough to get Michael to unwind. “Of course I did.” 

Maria laughed, wriggling out of her shirt and leaning up to kiss Michael’s neck, letting his tentacles wander all over her body. Now Michael had started sucking on the tip of the tentacle in his mouth, so _that_ one was never leaving again, she supposed. Meanwhile, the tentacle she had wrapped around his cock was snaking its way up his entire length, just gently squeezing like it was in absolutely no hurry to see him come—she wasn’t, of course, and would squeeze him off the edge whenever she felt his balls tighten up, no matter how he whined. 

“Now I think these little fellows need some practice showing a girl a good time,” she said, coaxing these smaller stiffer tentacles inside her. 

Michael moaned at the feeling of her, one hand flying up to squeeze his dick to keep from coming, only for Maria to slap his hand away, laughing evilly. 

“I’ll handle that, don’t worry,” she promised. 

His tentacles wound around each other, thickening as they began to pulse in and out of her, even as the other four tried to tangle around Alex to keep him inside every time he pulled back to thrust. So, so quickly, Michael fell apart between them, reduced to a shivery, moaning mess.

Alex stuttered to his own completion with a groan, while Maria’s noises were louder, more unladylike and unashamed of her enjoyment. “Oh, you have good, sweet little tentacles.”

“Good big ones, too,” Alex panted, as Michael’s tentacles, with more energy and drive than Michael seemed to have, started getting curious around the cleft of his ass. “You can fuck me from this angle?” 

“Hm hm, he can fuck you from any angle he likes,” Maria laughed, cutting off on another loud, happy moan. One of Michael’s thicker tentacles came around to press against her, to give her something to grind down on and chase her orgasm just as fast or slow as she wanted, as the smaller, more sensitive ones kept their clever work inside her. 

Alex made an interested noise, but rather than encouraging the tentacles getting friendly with him with anything more than a light kiss, he stuffed his fingers back inside Michael at the same time he reached around to stroke his cock, teasing and playing with him, making him squirm and whimper around the tentacle still filling up his mouth.

“I think we could play with him like this for hours,” Maria said, and gasped out her orgasm on his wriggling tentacles. “Maybe days, you know. That’s how we get him to stay. ‘Good night, Michael, good work, we’ll most likely let you come in the morning.’” 

“I bet he hasn’t seen _The Princess Bride_ , you know,” Alex said. 

“Oh, now that’s sad,” Maria said, deliberately picking her tentacle out of his mouth. “Tell Alex how much you want to fuck him, how good you’ll make it.”

Michael followed it when it left his mouth, a sight that made Maria go cross-eyed with lust, then ducked his head, embarrassed, working his jaw against the gentle ache of being used and empty. But then he turned to look at Alex with those eyes that got him everything he could possibly want, little flyaway curls clinging to his damp skin, mouth bruised and red.

“So good,” he said, “Any way you want it, I can give it to you—hard, rough, or so slow it takes the rest of the night, any part of me it’s—yours, whatever you want—”

And Alex couldn’t resist kissing those words right out of his mouth, spent dick even giving a twitch of interest.

“I don’t know, Maria, what do you think?”

“Oh, he’s a good boy, I think we can give him what he wants—Alex’s ass—maybe after we watch a movie? Alex, are you prepared to donate your—”

“Oh, my God, Maria,” Alex laughed. “She’s into anal, too, you know.” 

“There we go. If you’re a good boy throughout one whole movie, you can fuck both of us,” Maria agreed cheerfully. “ _Or_ , we let you come now and you can get to work on the engine right away. Ooh, and then I’ll have to pay you overtime...” 

“Let’s save the manual labor for tomorrow, shall we? It’s been a long day,” Alex laughed. “And no matter what plans we make for the rest of the night, how about we get a change of scenery? It really is fucking cold in here, and we could all use a shower.” He ran his hand down Michael’s chest and one finger up the length of his cock, collecting a bead of pre that gathered there. “Michael can get the shower started, and we can take turns.”

That threesome shower really hadn’t worked out well, so they were getting better about sharing. 

“Think you can wait?” Maria purred, kissing Michael’s cheek and neck, nibbling on his neck a bit on the other side from where Alex had given him a hickey. 

“Really?” Michael whined and shifted, but he’d backed down from the edge by now, and was just tingling and raw all over. “You’re gonna make me wait?” 

“Yep! I don’t know why you stick around, when we’re so wicked to you.” 

“He doesn’t even act out,” Alex commented, getting to his feet and pulling on most of his clothes. “Like, to be punished.” 

A single grain of anxiety—mostly that they were in a honeymoon period and would sicken of him eventually—bloomed into a seedling in Michael’s chest.

“Uh...patience is a virtue?” He snarked, folding the blanket that traveled with them and tucking it neatly at the end of the bed, one hand lingering on top to ground himself in the texture of it. “Just hold your horses, I’m sure I’ll start coming up with ways to piss you off sooner or later.”

“Nooo,” Maria said, hugging Michael around the neck. “This is a good one, Alex. We’re keeping him.”

Alex held up his hands, picking up that he’d overstepped. “Sorry, got carried away.” 

His eyes flicked to Maria for instruction. 

“You get the movie set up, and we’ll start in the shower first,” Maria said, helping Michael to his feet. His tertiary tentacles were already folded up back inside him, but she kept her tentacles tangled with the rest of his. 

Before Alex could go anywhere, though, Michael took both his hands and pulled him close, resting their foreheads together, trying to communicate the peace and comfort he found in their little trio, trying to share that feeling with him, trying to shield him from Michael’s own fear and anxiety and low-burning self-loathing, and just...be.

“Oh,” Alex murmured, with a little smile, and Michael let the moment pass. Alex held him still for a little longer, though, then pulled away with a light kiss, and left to start the movie.

Michael turned to Maria. “Could you feel that? Did I do it right?” He managed a version of his usual grin. “I can start calling you Ms. DeLuca if you’re into the student/teacher thing.”

“Only in bed, if you’re into roleplay,” Maria said airily, but she kissed him with gravity. “You’re doing great. So’s he. You kinda give off subby vibes and it’s fun to play with that line, but we really shouldn’t until we talk about it.”

She led the way to the shower, their tendrils still locked together, Michael’s dick still half-hard, and she turned on the water and wedged Michael in first. “He got _sexually excited_. He doesn’t actually think you’re going to mess anything up.”

Michael huffed. “Okay, I can accept that. But maybe...maybe _I_ feel like I’m going to mess something up. I was alone for...look, my manners leave something to be desired, I know that. I just don’t want to…”

“If you didn’t notice, our manners aren’t exactly royal, either. We like that you’re a little rough, and I’m sorry that sometimes we respond in kind, when I think you need a softer touch.” She paused. “You just don’t want to what?” 

Michael gave a sad little shrug. “Get in the way? Or be forgotten. Both. Either. They don’t play well together, and it makes me touchy. But I promise I’m trying. You’ve both been great. No apologies.”

“Well, we’re all trying, and we’re all learning, and the only thing that’ll make that feel better is time.” 

Maria kissed him, and washed his hair—with a proper hair oil, not a shampoo—and then she handed him the soapy loofah. “I don’t know if I can reach my back...and the rest of me.” 

“Oh, well, let me…” Michael murmured, taking it from her and moving behind her. He trailed his fingers down her back, dropping a tiny kiss to her shoulder then starting there to wash her back, following the loofah with his hands and even leaning in to nuzzle her soft, brown skin, not caring if it got soap in his mouth, he just felt…

He even knelt to wash her feet, as tiny and cramped as the shower was.

“See what I mean? You’re a _good boy_ . I don’t even believe you _have_ many rough edges. They all just give, soft underneath. You never got hardened, you got hurt.” She bent down to kiss him. “We want to protect you from ever getting hurt again.” 

She took the loofah from him and gave him the same treatment—or, similar, because she wasn’t the get down on her knees type.

“Movie’s set up,” Alex called from outside. “Switch?” 

“Switch,” Maria agreed. “Hand me a towel?” 

Michael leaned back against the wall to let Maria slide past him and, a few seconds later, Alex slide past too. He palmed Alex’s hips and nuzzled his neck, breathing in the smell of him before it got washed away with soap, feeling Alex’s grin against the side of his face and the ruffle of fingers through his wet hair.

“Hi,” Michael said stupidly.

“Howdy,” Alex said, trying to say it ironically. “Did you talk more with Maria about staying on with us? Maybe taking a real paycheck like you deserve? Taking...anything you deserve?” 

Michael busied himself fiddling with the water pressure. “Uh, we didn’t really…” He took a deep breath to steady himself. “I...look. I’m not going anywhere unless you want me too, or unless my being here puts you in danger. I’ve just gotten fucked by enough contracts in my life, okay? I don’t want any contracts between me and the people I’m fucking. If you need something written out for your own records, it’s fine, but I’m not signing it, it’ll just have to...be. Is that okay?”

"I don't mean the contract, Michael," Alex said, and he managed to sound gentle, because even though he was frustrated he knew better. He hugged Michael, rubbing his back. "Knowing you're planning on staying is wonderful. But the economic level on which you should be fairly compensated for your labor is all the more important _because_ we're fucking."

“Oh, so all that stuff about me getting by on _credit,”_ he waggled his eyebrows and touched his tongue to his bottom lip, “Was just a joke? I’m _shocked._ ”

He dropped the joke, though, when one raised eyebrow showed him how little Alex found it funny.

“Okay. Whatever you want to pay me, I’ll take it and not argue, okay? Honestly, it might save you money in the long run. For-hire spaceport mechanics are fucking sharks.”

"Absolutely why _we want to hire you_ . _And_ fuck you," Alex said, hands sliding down to squeeze Michael’s ass. He grinned and kissed him. "Glad we got that sorted out."

Michael hummed and kissed him back, arms going around his waist, slipping easily on his water-slick skin. 

“Want me to wash you?” He asked, starting to rub his strong back in slow, firm strokes. It was intoxicating, having people to care for.

“Only if you let me reciprocate,” Alex said, resting his hands on Michael’s shoulders lazily so Michael had full access to him. He watched Michael, so different in profile with his hair slicked against his head, so thin and lanky, but with a wiry, scrapper’s strength. Too many scars to count, but he wasn’t alone in that department. “You’re clearly an Acts of Service lover, but...how do you want to be loved? I feel like I keep getting it wrong.” 

“Oh, uh, dunno,” Michael said, keeping his voice light as he lathered up his hands and drew them slowly down Alex’s sides. He’d grab Alex’s own loofah in a second, but for now he just wanted to feel. “What are my options? D, all of the above.”

“I mean,” Alex giggled, turned on (impossibly, again) by Michael’s hands on him but nervous because maybe he was putting his foot in his mouth again: of course Guerin didn’t know some old human principle about love languages, all he probably knew he liked was _anything that didn’t hurt_. “Uh, it’s stupid. Just an old-fashioned...human...way of saying what you like. Physical touch, words of affirmation, gifts, service, and, ah, time. Most people like all of them, but usually prefer one.” 

“Huh. Yeah, all of those sound pretty good to me. I don’t know. I like words, but sometimes I’m not great at hearing them. I like time, but I always end up pushing people away. I think maybe I’m not fluent enough for this.”

“Well, that’ll be fun to find out. Maria will be thrilled, she loves games and puzzles, and you’re both,” Alex said, relaxing into Michael’s touch. He was almost used to the tentacles thing, how Michael let them kinda hang out when they were alone and relaxed. “You’re very...attentive,” Alex said, trying for words of affirmation, which wasn’t one he was good at giving. 

Michael shrugged. “You’re easy to attend. You just gotta let me know if I’m ever...too much. I can back off.”

Alex chuckled. “See? Words of affirmation. You’re good _at_ all of them.” 

He sighed and softly pushed some hair out of Michael’s face. “I don’t think you could ever be too much. But I’ll tell you, sure.” 

Michael knelt, just like he had for Maria. He washed one leg and kissed the knee, then made sure to wipe all the soap off his hands to hold and kiss the other. He knew enough about this model to know that it was waterproof—well, obviously, or else Alex wouldn’t have gotten in the shower with it—but no one needed soap gumming up the works.

“Just let me know if you ever need a backup mechanic for your leg, too,” he said. “Anything you need.”

“Really? You know how the R-100s work?” Alex asked. He could do most of his own maintenance, or talk Maria through repairs he couldn’t reach (who put an access panel in the back of the heel??), but he did occasionally need to take it into a service station, which always meant a Core World and expensive docking fees. “That’d be...great. It doesn’t give me too much trouble, but I’m due for a battery replacement here in a year or so.” 

“I’m your man. I worked a station next to a guy—fourth or fifth ship I was on? I don’t remember, I was like sixteen or so, but he had one and had the original manual and it was like the only thing on the whole damn rig there was to read so I’d steal it and...uh, in retrospect, not great of me, but I paid him back by getting those hard-to-reach spots. Um, anyway.” Michael blushed at his own ramble and stood back up to wash Alex’s back. 

“I don’t see what’s not great about that,” Alex said, finally turning back around and wresting the loofah from Michael. “Your turn.” 

Alex paid careful attention to Michael, washing his entire body with his own soap, wanting Michael to smell like him. If he gave his tentacles and dick even more attention than the rest of him, he could hardly be blamed. “You’re...amazing.” 

“I’ll take your word for it,” Michael said, nudging his shoulder with his head as he bowed to let Alex run some more conditioner through his hair. But he smiled, hoping Alex could feel it even if he couldn’t see it.

They lingered in the shower until the water started running cold. Michael was pruney beyond belief, sleepy from the steam and the care, sluggish and clingy. But they’d kept Maria waiting long enough, so Alex prodded him into the _Pony’s_ little living area where she was stretched out on the couch, in her pajamas, hair wrapped up, occupied with her data pad. She smiled when the boys walked in, and the three of them situated themselves so Alex and Maria sat at either end with Michael stretched out between them.

“Hey,” he said, looking up from Maria’s lap.

“Hey,” she hummed, fingertips tracing idle patterns over his forehead, cheeks, neck. “Alex clean behind your ears real good?”

“I didn’t let him come, Maria,” Alex said, rolling his eyes. 

“Good, I wanted to tease him for the whole movie,” Maria said, sliding down to get more of Michael in her lap, her fingers wandering over his chest now. 

Alex chuckled, doing the same with Michael’s legs that were in his lap while the opening sequence with the kid being read to by his grandfather ran. 

Michael shivered, mostly from sensation rather than cold. Maria was dressed, and Alex had pulled on a pair of shorts, but Michael was still naked, completely vulnerable to them. He already wasn’t paying attention to the movie, preferring to focus on Maria playing with his drying curls, Alex’s warm hands heavy against his shins, just holding him.

It took basically no time at all for Michael’s cock to harden again, tentacles stretching out to hold on to both of them, and he turned his face into Maria’s stomach to hide his blush, feeling overexposed.

Alex loved the feel of Michael’s tentacle winding around his arm, another curling around his thigh. They were good at clinging, just tight enough to be really secure, but not enough to cut off circulation. They wriggled at pulse points, too, and the one in his lap massaged his cock in interest, so that while they were watching Westley and Buttercup reunite Alex chuckled, “You really want me to fuck you again? Or were you going to fuck us?” 

“Part of him does, anyway,” Maria said. She was teasing his nipples and smaller tentacles, pinning his hands with her own tendrils. “I think after waiting so long, he should get everything he desires. Tell us your deepest, darkest fantasy, and we’ll make it happen.” 

“I want…” He blushed deeper, licking his dry lips. “Um. I want you to fuck me, Maria. And I want Alex to fuck my mouth at the same time. I want—” He cut himself off, folded his arms over his chest. “Uh, that.”

"He expressed an opinion, color me impressed," Alex teased, getting his hand on Michael's cock and stroking him to full hardness.

“And it wasn’t to fuck but to be fucked. Interesting,” Maria purred. 

"Now to see if he holds out til the end of the movie like this."

One of Maria's tentacles wound around Michael's cock, too, linked with Alex's hand. "You’re such a good boy. Maybe in the meantime give you something to practice on…"

Her fourth set of tentacles already emerging, one of them sought out Michael's warm, wet mouth (and pretty obvious oral fixation). 

Michael let out a soft, muffled moan, curling his tongue around it, sucking its slickness into his mouth, letting his eyes slip shut. Maria’s hands in his hair, Alex’s hands on his body, he unhooked his mind and let himself drift on sensation. If their goal was to get him to watch a movie with them, it failed spectacularly; if their goal was to torture him, it was a rousing success.

“ _Nnnnh…._ ” He moaned, hips twitching upward, squirming in their laps, desperate.

Around the time Miracle Max talked about the difference between mostly dead and all dead, Maria turned to Alex.

"Maybe we could…"

"He's seen enough."

"He's waited long enough."

"We've waited—"

Alex pounced on him first, yanked Michael by both legs closer, lifted him up to start rimming him, open-mouthed and sloppy. Maria's tentacles tightened around him reflexively, jealously, squeezed his dick and wrists as she bent to kiss him, shoving her tentacle out of the way when it didn't want to leave. He tasted sweet, like her tentacles, or like his own. 

Michael _howled,_ until Maria kissed his mouth to muffle it, thighs clenching around Alex’s head, almost trying to writhe away out of pure instinct, only for Maria’s tentacles to jerk him back into place, Alex’s hands tightening too, capturing him and keeping him.

All he could do was take it, so he did, and whimpered out his _pleases_ and _thank yous._

"Flip him over," Alex said urgently.

"Right, I'm supposed to—" Maria said, and her tentacles and Alex's biceps flipped Michael over neatly, with freakish strength, Michael with his face in Alex's lap while Maria got up on her knees behind him. 

“Please! Please—” Michael babbled, pushing his hips back toward her, tilting his ass into the air, rolling his forehead against Alex’s thigh. His fingers and toes curled in helpless ecstasy. He’d been on edge so long, pulse pounding in his ears, in his chest, in his _cock,_ burning with need and maybe now finally, finally, he’d be getting some relief. He wanted all of it at once. As much—more than he could take. 

“Please,” he repeated, mouthing at the bulge of Alex’s cock through his thin shorts, trying to lick and suck any way that he could.

“Anything you want,” Alex murmured, fingers carding roughly through his hair. 

“We’re here for you. Love you,” Maria said, her tentacles holding him, cradling him even as they teased him. She opened her mind for him, like holding out a hand, taking Alex with her, too. “Be here for us.” 

“You’re not too much,” Alex promised him, letting him have mostly free rein once he got his sleeping shorts down and his cock sprang free (really, three times in one night? It was almost too much). “You’re just right, Michael. Just perfect. Just—”

“Just be with us,” Maria finished, fucking Michael and herself to the same rhythm, and this time she let him come, and let him come again, and keep coming as hard and long as he liked. 

Michael sobbed and sobbed, from pleasure and from the emotions coursing through him, and when the strength went out of him he sagged in both their arms, limp and twitching, held up just by Maria’s tentacles around his thighs and hips and Alex’s hands gentle on his neck and shoulders keeping him from choking himself altogether.

He wanted to be here. It was all he wanted. It all tangled together inside him, every thought he’d ever had about, every daydream of himself tinkering away in the engine room, every craving to nest up in either of their beds, every nightmare that kept him wanting to cling to the _Pony_ whenever they docked, let Alex and Maria go out without him, so they had to come back, so he couldn’t get lost…

It was hard to coordinate himself, but he managed to wring another orgasm out of Alex, come splashing across his cheeks and mouth and nose, and he moaned at that too.

“God…”

“Oh, Michael,” Maria gasped, and she was crying, too. She draped herself across his back, wrapping all of her tentacles and arms around him. “We won’t lose you.” 

Even Alex’s eyes were wet, when she looked up at him. He pushed the tears away, and wiped up the cum from Michael’s face, even though he liked the way it looked. “I’m not crying. Three orgasms in one evening is just a lot.” 

“That sounds even worse, Alex,” Maria giggled, kissing Michael’s spine. She rolled slightly to make sure Michael could see the movie, resting her head on Michael’s shoulder while Michael rested on Alex’s shoulder. They were exhausted, and silent.

 _Hello, my name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die,_ came from the speakers.

“Even if you do get lost, we’ll find you,” Alex said when the six-fingered man was dead. He said it with the same resolve that Inigo Montoya swore he would avenge his father. 

Promises could be strange things. Michael was fairly certain his mother had made promises too, once upon a time, though he couldn’t be sure. But it was impossible not to believe in Alex and Maria. Not with all this certainty stuffing up his chest, not with Maria’s mind like a glowing golden light, like a guiding star. He laid his head on Alex’s chest, and his tentacles, all three sets, twined with Maria’s, binding all three of them together.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw for panic attacks and shock he's a sensitive alien

“Maria DeLuca, the wandering tentacles thing was funny the first six times. He’s obviously trying to watch the movie this time!”

“You’re the one with a hand down his pants!” Maria protested.

“He can tell me himself if he wants me to leave him alone,” Alex replied imperiously. 

Their last job had resulted in a payout large enough that they added a couch to the small cargo bay where Michael lived, and they were piled up on it catching Michael up on Terran movies, since there was not a lot to do over long hauls between planets. 

They were heading closer to the Skain system for this next job, where they were supposed to find Michael’s long-lost sister. They were delivering unregistered though not quite illegal med-packs to a needy planet nearby, for a pretty lowball fee for Maria’s liking, but it was in the right quadrant for Michael and do-gooding every once in a while kept Alex happy. And, of course, they had just come off a big score.

Like most of their movie nights, Michael had spent this one stretched out over both their laps. Sometimes he started the movie sitting upright, but it always ended this way. This time, his head was in Maria’s lap, her hand stroking his hair, and his legs were in Alex’s lap, his hand on his knee—or at least it had been, before it started traveling up. 

Michael’s film education often ran into this roadblock, but he wouldn’t have it any other way. His two lovers not being able to keep their hands off him satisfied the deepest, neediest parts of him, the parts that needed so desperately to be wanted, to be loved, hell, just ot be acknowledged. 

“No arguing,” he purred, shifting his ass in Alex’s lap. “There’s plenty of me to go around.”

"See, he makes us be better friends," Maria hummed, wrapping her arms around Michael's chest. "But really you should be watching this.  _ Alien _ is an important part of Earth history, what we thought aliens would be like before we actually met them, and in my mother's case, fucked them."

“Am I the enemy that goes bump in the night? I can crawl into the ducts and make a spooky noise now and then if it would be more culturally sensitive for you two,” Michael snarked.

It was particularly funny to think about Michael being scary now, with his fuzzy-socked feet on the arm of the couch, with his shirt riding up to reveal a strip of his stomach, with him all soft and relaxed and heavy and warm cuddling on both of them.

This movie is honestly the reason I never want to be pregnant,” Maria said. She was stroking Michael’s hair with her fingers, but her tentacles had wrapped around his chest and arms, squeezing him and teasing him. “Not to mention I’d have to choose whether I’d carry a baby to term like a human or lay eggs like an Antaran. No thanks.” 

Alex made a surprised noise. “Wait, you didn’t tell me you people laid  _ eggs _ !” 

“Uhhh….” Michael gave an embarrassed little cough. “Um, not sure this is movie-time talk. And really all I know comes from textbooks, and like, one really awkward physical a few years back. But can confirm, eggs are involved.”

“Sorry, you’re right,” Maria said, clasping Michael’s hands and kissing him on the cheek. “Not movie talk. But yes, eggs are involved. No chance of an accidental pregnancy that way, which is good.” 

Alex’s eyebrows were still in his hairline, grinning at the both of them. “Just when I think we’ve gotten as weird as we can, you throw more kinky shit at me.  _ Eggs _ ?” 

He massaged Michael’s thigh with one hand, while the hand down his soft sweatpants gave his cock a squeeze. “Does she lay them in your chest cavity like a xenomorph?” 

“No, dude, gross—”

Maria cackled. “Unsexy alert! Alex, this movie is not a good movie to have sex to!” 

“Maybe we should turn the movie off,” Alex suggested. “I’m hungry.” 

“It’s not a good movie to eat to, either,” Michael agreed with a laugh.

He slid off their lap—they let him go quite reluctantly—and stretched his arms to the ceiling, shirt riding up to reveal his whole stomach, pants slipping down just slightly at the same time, undone as they were by Alex’s wandering hands. Then, scratching his chest, he wandered off to the kitchen to get dinner started, as both Maria and Alex watched him leave like hungry sharks.

Maria and Alex let the movie run as they did the mental math of wanting desperately to fuck him into the next solar system but knowing they would be stuck eating cold rations again if they couldn’t wait. 

“We should remember to save movie time for when we’re in a fucking mood,” Alex said. 

“Which is like, all the time?” Maria replied, turning off the projector. 

“A fucking timetable, then. Like after dinner.”

“I’ll cook dinner if you let me have him first.” 

“No you won’t.”

“He  _ is _ more relaxed when you’re there,” Alex admitted with a sigh. 

“He’s better behaved when you’re there,” Maria said, and actually squirmed in her seat. “Maybe I’ll go masturbate until dinner’s ready.” 

“So he’s all mine while he cooks?” 

“Damn it, Manes.” 

Together, they followed him into the galley. “Anything we can do to help?” 

“Nah, I prepped earlier, it’s already in the oven. You can help me chop salad stuff, I guess. It’s the last day for most of the fresh stuff from our last supply run, so better make it count.” He floated two cutting boards and knives down from the kitchen and portioned out the vegetables that still needed cutting, all without breaking stride with his own knife. 

Maria and Alex watched in amazement. 

“Whoever finishes first pours the wine,” Maria suggested, recovering first and chopping a large head of lettuce. “Unless you can also do that with your brain.” 

“What’re we having?” Alex asked, like he was searching for a weakness. Michael had been with them for a month now and hadn’t repeated a single dish. 

“Old Sanders’s herbed chicken recipe. Well, it’s not  _ Earth  _ chicken, but you know what I mean.” Michael waved his hand then went back to chopping. He had his head down, and when he next spoke it was a little hesitant. “Have I told you guys about Old Man Sanders?”

“I don’t think so,” Maria said, sensing that this was a bittersweet story, not a funny one, or a plain old sad one that just made her and Alex mad. She jogged Alex’s elbow to convey the gravity of the situation and dumped her cut lettuce into the colander for washing. 

“Sanders was from Earth?” Alex asked. 

“I think so. Cagey old bastard might tell you ten different stories about it before breakfast, but he was definitely human. I met him on the last ship I worked on before the corporate freighter. I don’t know what his actual job description was, but he was the cook, the head engineer, the quartermaster, and hell, sometimes the first mate too. Been there so long it was like he and the ship were just a package deal. Anyway, I was a dumb kid and the captain had it out for me, at least until Sanders plucked me out of the rank and file and put me on permanent KP. Turns out you can learn a hell of a lot about an engine in a ship’s kitchen, too. Um, anyway…” Michael trailed off, self-conscious about the whole speech he’d just given.

“Sounds like you’re carrying on his legacy,” Maria said, leaving her washing to reach for something she didn’t really need just so she could have an excuse to wrap her arms around Michael. “Engineer...cook...co- _ co _ -captain.” 

Alex decided that was enough cucumber and started pouring wine. “What ship was he on? If we ever run into them, I’d like to shake his hand.” 

“Ha, nah.” Michael’s smile had taken on a fixed, fake quality. “When I left that ship, I...look, it doesn’t make it better, but I’d gone there with nothing and basically hadn’t been paid, so I left with nothing too. I knew the only way I’d be able to find work was with tools of my own....so I stole his. Hard to live up to the legacy of a guy who probably never wants to see your ungrateful mug again. Ship was the  _ Auptolemy IV,  _ though, y’know, in case you wanna give ‘em a call and tell ‘em where to find me.”

He wasn’t meeting either of their eyes, though that awful smile didn’t move an inch. He finished his own chopping and added it to the bowl, turning his back to them to get the dressing out of the fridge with his hands.

Into the silence, Alex shut the fridge door and Maria took Michael’s hands. 

“If what you say is true about your situation, I bet he forgives you more than you think,” Maria said softly. 

“And we’ve been over this, Michael,” Alex added, less softly, “we’re not turning you over to those who hurt you. Not the justice system, not some space sharks.”

He didn’t trust himself not to shake him, so Alex relied on Maria to squeeze Michael’s hands for emphasis. 

They spoke in sync: “You’re ours,” Alex said, just as Maria said, “We’re keeping you, Guerin.” 

“Right. Thank you, both of you.” His face softened, and he kissed Maria’s forehead, then Alex’s cheek, then he had to pull away and bend over to check the temperature of the chicken.

Trying for lightness to break the mood, he said, “Hell, maybe you should check the bounties for him, too. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if he ended up mutinying. He hated being told what to do.”

"We don't mess with people bounties," Alex reminded him firmly, still upset, this time giving Michael's shoulder a warning squeeze. "Not to say we wouldn't put one out on you if you ran off."

"We'd just find him ourselves," Maria said, softer but still scary. "We still have all the  _ skills  _ for bounty hunting."

Michael balked at that,  _ hard.  _ He knew it was the wrong thing to say, knew it wasn’t reassuring, but he couldn’t help but draw himself back, turn his head aside. “You mean you don’t love me for my free spirit?” he snarked, edging past them to get to the oven and take the chicken out.

"Maria has a free spirit. You're afraid of commitment," Alex said, matching Michael's tone this time. If he was going to be vaguely snarky-jokey, Alex could play that game, too. 

"Look, we love you and love that you're around," Maria said, trying to dissipate the tension. 

“We’ve known each other for two months, and the  _ first  _ morning we shared I made you uproot your lives to hide me from the cops.  _ Fear of commitment  _ is pretty fucking far down my list of issues, and if you couldn’t see that coming from five hundred parsecs you need your fucking scanners checked.” Michael’s voice was resigned and heavy, a blunt object in full swing. He almost-slammed the baking dish onto the stovetop. “Dinner’s ready.”

Maria pulled him against her with both arms, grip firm and voice soft. “You didn’t  _ make us  _ do anything, and we didn't uproot anything. Except maybe our hearts a bit. Makes Al cagey."

Alex breathed harshly through his nose. "That's not—look, I'm sorry. What I said was uncalled for. We do appreciate you being here and everything you do for us, seriously. Enough that we  _ really _ don't want you to go anywhere."

Michael could be prickly but also sensitive, a self-reinforcing downward spiral of horrible, lonely grief. It was a terrible combination, one that made their hearts ache for him. It also wasn't fair to them, but they weren't abandoned at the age of 7 with no memory of their parents and taken advantage of by everyone they ever met since. So they could deal, and try to teach him it was safe and he didn’t have to be like that anymore. 

"Sorry we get a little intense," Maria said.

Michael took a deep breath and let it out harsh but slow. “Yeah, well. It takes two to tango. Or three to do...whatever it is we’re doing. I’m sorry too. I—”

With an ominous  _ thunk,  _ the lights cut out all around them, and the three of them stood frozen in silence for a skipped heartbeat, then things clicked back on with a high background whine.

“Fuck,” Michael snarled, bolting out of the galley, toward the engine room.

"Oops," Alex said, which was not something Alex ordinarily said. He ran to the cockpit. 

Maria followed Michael. "What...uh, what happened?" She hit the internal comm. "Alex?"

“I’m getting a lot of error messages, but we’re not going to explode or die. Stand by.” 

Maria left the comm on so Michael and Alex could hear each other, though neither did anything but swear for a while. 

Michael had the electrical panel open and was swearing loudly. Nothing was actively smoking, but a bitter, acrid haze hung around the entire room, ugly and clinging and smelling of ozone gone bad. As Maria stood there, he braced himself against the wall, shuddered, just for a moment, like something was trying to escape from under his very skin, then stilled, unnaturally so, and spoke in a tightly controlled voice.

“When I checked the nav logs and saw we were going straight through the black on the last leg toward Skain, I uncoupled the comms and QoL systems from the top-level power grid and gave them their own energy routing protocol parallel with propulsion, nav, and life support. I’ve done it a thousand times—fuck, all ships  _ should  _ work like that on long hauls, if something takes out your fucking top-level power and it fries your comms, you’re fucking dead—but I should have fucking known that the  _ Pony’s  _ old as fuck failsafe sensors would fuck it up, I should have replaced them last time we docked, but I thought we could make it.”

“It’s okay, Michael,” Maria said, her whole body tight with stress. In her mind she groped to find him, soothe him, but she found nothing but a cold, hard wall, no welcome, no warmth. He’d shut her out, and from his utter lack of reaction as she probed his defenses, he didn’t even seem to know he’d done it. All she had to go on was her physical senses, and all of them told her he was on the verge of a panic attack. 

She continued, “It’s alright. We can fix this. Sounds like an easy thing to...just...what does that mean for us right now? For the  _ Pony? _ ” 

“Well, top-level power is fucking boned, thanks to yours truly over here,” Michael spat, voice dripping with self-loathing. “So that means no hot water, no onboard media, no roving datapad charging, basically no  _ anything  _ that isn’t directly dedicated to keeping us alive and flying. Unless we detour to let me fix it.”

“That’s fine. A detour is just fine,” Maria said, keeping her voice calm, like Michael was a wild animal, or a child with a gun. “Right, Alex?” 

“Yeah we’ve got...aw,  _ shit _ ,” Alex said. “Yep, I’ll just turn us around. There’s a good port about a day behind us. We’ll need to top up fuel, but it’s fine. We’ve got friends in New Roswell.” Alex, too, spoke like he was trying not to sound annoyed for fear of breaking their boyfriend. 

“Great. Fantastic.” Michael closed the panel. Didn’t slam it, like he wasn’t even angry. “One day,” he said. “Okay. I’m just going to...work something out to make sure you guys have a hot shower. Call me if you…”  _ Need anything,  _ but he trailed off before completing the thought and just brushed past Maria, leaving the engine room.

“No, hey, no,” Maria said, grabbing his arm. “Let’s eat dinner first, and we can all work on it. Well, Alex can help, I’ll stand there and look fantastic and hand you tools.” 

She gave him a weak smile, but he wasn’t having it. In her mind, she reached for him again. Nothing. Her hand came up to clutch her shirt right over her heart, the loneliness of losing him striking in her chest like a tuning fork.

Still, she spoke words of comfort. “ _ It’s okay, Michael _ . We’re not dying, we’re just mildly inconvenienced. Let’s eat while we’ve got hot food, huh?” 

Michael’s stomach was a hollow pit, and food wouldn’t fill it, and neither would anything else. But it was impossible to say no to Maria, so he nodded and followed her back to the galley, starting to plate the still-warm food like he was on autopilot. He didn’t look up when Alex came into the room. He already wanted to sink into the floor, he didn’t need to see the careful mask on Alex’s face no matter what it was hiding, anger or disappointment or grim vindication that Michael was a fuckup after all—

And why couldn’t he feel him or Maria, anymore? He thought he was getting better at this, but he must have been wrong. All wrong. 

“Well, that was a buzzkill,” Alex said. “Anyone want to do shots?”

Maria laughed dryly. “I don’t think—Michael!” she cried, snapping him out of piling food onto a plate until the plate nearly disappeared. “Look, nobody’s eating that much! Sit down, please. Give Michael a drink, Alex, please. I’ll plate. It smells so good.”

Alex guided Michael to their little table and poured him a glass of wine. “Hey, don’t beat yourself up. She never replaces anything, just wants the old thing fixed. Knew it was going to catch up with us someday. It’s not your fault.”

Michael knocked back his wine in two gulps and shook his head. “Checking that any modifications you do are compatible with the failsafes is literally day fucking one for any interplanetary craft.” He tried to stop himself—it was only the basis of literally every fight they’d had so far—but his stupid fucking mouth kept running anyway. “Maybe when we dock you can hire yourself a  _ competent  _ engineer.”

When Alex drew himself back, Michael leaned forward after him.

“No, fuck, I’m sorry, I know—”

Alex deflated, having puffed himself up to respond vehemently when Michael immediaely folded. He sighed, patting Michael’s arm and pouring him another glass of wine. 

“Even  _ if  _ we wanted another engineer to look at things, we’d still want to keep you on, Michael,” Alex said quietly. “Someday I hope you get that.” 

Maria brought three plates to the table, all with a reasonable amount of chicken on them. 

Michael had had an...awareness of her, before. A welcoming fold where his sense could meet hers and click together and understand, a simple relay of signals, even if Michael didn’t have the tools to interpret them all. He didn’t even know when it first formed—it might have been that first night, even. But it was gone now, hiding or broken.  _ Michael  _ was broken. As shitty an excuse for an Antaran as he was for an engineer.

When a person is starving, they reach a point where the brain stops sending hunger signals and the pain recedes to better their chances of survival. It isn’t until the body is fed again that the pain comes back. The hollow, wasting ringing inside of Michael’s skull was like that, now, having known the safety and strength of another mind connected to his, and now...and now…

Fuck, he was  _ not  _ hungry. He picked at his dinner, not even tasting it, but downed another glass of wine like he was dying of thirst.

Maria and Alex exchanged a look, but Alex gave him more wine, and they split the rest of the bottle.  _ At least he’s consuming calories _ , Maria heard Alex think. There wasn’t precisely an  _ echo _ when he thought it, that wasn’t how this worked, but the presence of one voice laid bare the aching absence of the other.

“Michael…” she began, reaching out to squeeze his leg, but before she said anything she decided they had bigger issues to deal with than her being—offended? Sad? She left her side of the bond open, though she could still feel him closed up, walled off. Her throat tightened, so she took a sip of wine and forced a smile. “Please eat. Don’t make me make that an order.” 

His eyes lifted to meet hers and held there, dull and flat, then with a groan, he tore his eyes away and sank his head into his hands, the ringing replacing itself with a throbbing, bone-breaking headache. 

“Michael Guerin,” she said, trying to get through to him, rubbing the back of his neck. “It’s alright. We’re going to be alright. You’re going to be alright.”

“Please, can you try to eat something, Michael?” Alex asked, rubbing up and down his bony spine. “It’s really good. What you made is great.” 

Both their hands on him helped. He managed to choke down at least half his dinner, tasting none of it. Dully, he thought he had probably gone into some sort of shock, and it was good that they’d cut him off the wine, and it was good that they weren’t leaving, not yet. He thought about the cargo bay, he thought about his tiny one-man speeder, he couldn’t go back, he couldn’t, even if he should, should cut his losses and cut loose before he made some worse mistake that cost them more than one day’s progress. But he couldn’t. Just the thought made a wave, a pulse of helpless misery roll off of him. He could tell when it hit Maria and Alex, when their hands went still and clung to him, and he tried to push away from the table and from them.

Maybe the cold was what he deserved after all.

“I’m sorry, fuck, I don’t know what’s wrong with me. Look, the entertainment systems are offline and the datapads need to stay docked, but I have some books in my speeder if you need something to do…”

“We can just talk,” Maria suggested. “We’ve been overloading the systems too much for too long, anyway.” 

“Or we can just...be together,” Alex ventured. “I don’t think you should be alone.” 

“Agreed. I’ll take care of the food in here, if you want to—”

“No, I’ve got it,” Alex said, quietly, to Maria. “You keep...trying.” 

Alex gave her a rare hug, deciding they should be less rare. 

Maria followed Michael doggedly, wherever he wanted to go. But he only got a few steps into the hall before he sagged against the wall, one hand on his head, the other wrapped around his stomach, holding himself tightly.

“Maria…” he rasped, leaning into her with as much of himself as he could without knocking her over. He let himself soak in the feeling of her for several seconds before he blinked and looked around, like he hadn’t noticed Alex not following them. “Alex…?”

“Hey, Michael, I’ve got you, I’m here,” Maria whispered, wrapping her arms around him. “Alex is here. He’s going to join us. Let’s...go to my room, okay?” 

She lifted his arm across her shoulder, taking the bulk of his weight. “We’ll just relax, light some candles, and turn in early. Try and work on reconnecting again, i-if you want. Whenever you want. Alex will join us,” she had to promise again, when he didn’t want to budge. 

“I want,” Michael said, then snapped his jaw shut, another wave of emotional white noise sloughing off of him like dead skin. He pressed their foreheads together clumsily, almost headbutting her, until he cradled her head with both those big, warm hands, trying to keep them both steady. “I want,” he tried again, then shook his head against hers, eyes falling shut, mouth falling open.

“I know, I know,” Maria whispered, though she didn’t know. It was an unsteady, unmoored feeling, not knowing what he wanted. She kissed the corner of his open mouth. “I want you to rest, and let us be with you. We’ll reconnect. Whenever you’re ready.” 

Alex found them still in the hall, drying his hands. “Uh, you didn’t have to wait for me.” 

“Michael wanted to.” 

Michael reached out to him, managing to tangle his fingers in his shirt and hold on. His headache subsided little by little the more they were together, like physical touch was at least some sort of substitute for the mental connection he needed. All he wanted was to fall asleep wrapped in both their arms, both their auras, drift away where it was safe, and not in the cold. 

“Let’s go to bed,” he said.

Alex chuckled a little, though one look at Maria told him he really shouldn’t be laughing. He definitely recognized the signs of shock, but Michael was also obviously drunk, and that  _ was  _ funny. Was it bad that Alex’s first thought was that maybe something to take the edge off would get him to relax? 

“Alright, bed,” Alex said, getting Michael’s other arm over his shoulder and starting them towards the captain’s cabin. The hallways were on emergency lighting, and Alex hit them off as they passed to conserve power. Things were going to get chilly, even in Maria’s room, but with all three of them sleeping together it probably wouldn’t even be uncomfortable, much less dangerous. 

Michael was wobbly on his feet but biddable, and they all hopped in the shower while the hot water was still warm, first Maria and Michael and then Alex and Michael. They welcomed him back to bed with fresh fuzzy socks and soft sleeping pants, and Maria and Alex both wore silk pajamas that Michael couldn’t stop touching. 

“Do you even know you’ve blocked me out?” Maria asked a half-asleep Michael, when he was sprawled out in Alex’s arms, and Maria was brushing her thumb over his forehead. 

“That would explain the—if a panic attack severed the connection and he just—went into shock,” she suggested with a shrug, now mostly talking to Alex. “I don’t know enough. All I’ve got to go on is me.” 

It hadn’t even hurt when she lost the connection between her and Michael. It had just faded away, leaving a horrible hole in her, sure, but not fast enough to leave her in shock. 

“I’m hoping we can catch up to Liz when we dock. She may know a doctor who could look the other way. I don’t know h-how dangerous this kind of shock is for Antarans…”

“No doctors,” Michael mumbled.

“Hush,” Alex replied, but gently, cupping the back of his neck and running his thumb over the knob of his spine. “We’re going to protect you. No matter what.”

“...K.”

Alex laughed lightly. If only it was always that easy. 

But no, he would rather have Michael difficult and dynamic than quiescent and hurting like this.

"Maybe Liz is still dating Kyle…" Maria thought aloud, packing pillows and blankets in around them.

Michael snuggled into Alex’s chest and dozed lightly. Having a heartbeat in his ears was almost a substitute for the mental connection.

Maria sighed, looking at them. It made a sweet picture, but she didn't need to actually speak or even think at Alex for them to agree on one thing.  _ That boy ain't right. _

And the worst part was how cuddly he was like this. Like he'd do anything for them to just stay. Maria hated herself for wanting this and knowing it was wrong. She wondered if there was a good version of this, for like, normal Antarans (not her and certainly not Michael). 

She curled up behind Michael, spooning him and probably crushing Alex, but Alex was a champ about it. 


	5. Chapter 5

Unlike their first morning together, Michael woke first, head pounding like ten hangovers all at once. Everyone had disentangled somewhat in the night, but that didn’t make it any easier to leave, to slide out from under Alex’s arm, to gently shift Maria so he could get past her. His bare feet hit the freezing floor and he winced as ice shot up through his veins. The climate systems were still online but running at the bare minimums. It took a lot of fucking power to keep the inside of a ship toasty while you hurtled through the absolute zero abyss.

Still, there were things that had to be done, and the engine room would still be warm, huffing and puffing away, the lungs and the heart of the beast. His mistake still sat coiled around his neck, ready to choke the life out of him, but there were other things he could do. He would make up the lost time and money.

Alex woke up in a panic, bare moments after Michael left. He hadn’t really slept, more waited with his eyes closed, in case—in case of anything, really. In case Michael had a panic attack or went into Antaran epilepsy or something. In case the Pony broke down any further. In case their lowered shields looked like an invitation to marauders. In case Michael stole out of bed and just took the fuck off into the black because he was being so emotionally constipated he made Alex look well-adjusted…

He sat up, patting the bed beside him. No Michael. 

Maria moaned sleepily, but Alex slipped out of bed. Ugh, and his fucking leg froze up on him, he  _ really  _ needed to get it looked at while they were in port, if he had any money left over…

“Michael?” he hissed, trying not to wake Maria. Jesus, it was cold out here, and he snagged a blanket and a robe. 

He tried the cargo bay first, but Michael’s transport was still there, thank God. So as long as he hadn’t just walked out an airlock, he was probably…

In the engine room. Alex heard him clanging and swearing away, having clambered into the engine like a monkey into the safety of the jungle. 

“Michael,” he sighed. “What are you doing up? Besides freezing your ass off.” 

“Just a diagnostics check,” Michael said over his own clanging. “No more fuckups. I’ll take the parts out on credit if I have to. But she’s purring well enough.” 

He put a hand almost sweetly on a stretch of pipe, like patting a horse’s flank. 

“Cold’s fine. My fault anyway. Built you guys a portable heater out of the speeder’s climate system.”

He pointed with a wrench at a squat little bundle by the door.

Alex sighed. At least he sounded lucid this morning. “Okay, we won’t need to take anything out on credit. Thanks for checking up on all this. Will you at least put the robe on? The last thing we need is an Antaran with frostbite.” 

Michael took it. It was Alex’s robe. He didn’t have one of his own—why would he want one, when this one smelled like Alex? He’d press his nose to the fabric and breathe him in as long as he possibly could. The smell would fade one day.

“Thanks,” he said, and bent back over the engine.

“You’re welcome. Thank you for...uh, whatever you’re doing.” Alex shifted on his feet. He should ask if Michael was okay, but didn’t think he’d get an honest answer. “Can I bring you a bowl of cereal?” 

Michael didn’t respond for a minute or so, then he put his tools aside and climbed off his perch, coming to Alex’s side. Slowly, like he thought he might get turned away, he put his hand on Alex’s waist and rested their foreheads together, just for a second, before pulling back and clearing his throat. Alex didn't move, either, like Michael was a wild animal who might spook. 

“The blender probably isn’t working, but I bet I could whir the ingredients up with TK and make you one of those smoothies you like,” he said.

Alex chuckled, daring to put an arm around Michael’s waist, tighter when Michael didn’t pull away. "While that would be a thing to see, there's no need. We'll need to use up the milk before it goes bad. Maria's mom calls it a 'silly supper' when you just eat things that'll go bad first. I want some more of last night's chicken quite honestly. Even cold."

That got a little smile out of Michael. “I’m glad it was such a hit. It’s pretty good cold. Old Sanders used to make it in these massive batches—of course, it was a bigger crew than this, but still. I’m, uh. Sorry about all the theatrics last night. I don’t know what was wrong with me.”

His headache gave a dull throb as if to remind him it wasn’t over yet.

“It’s okay, really. We all have our...whatever,” Alex attempted. “We just really want you to know we don’t think it’s your fault. This could have happened to us out in the black with no engineer for light years. So even if you think you screwed up, we’d be worse off without you. We’re still grateful you’re here, genuinely, and for more reasons than that. I don’t know how to get you to believe me.” 

Michael shook his head. “I’m sorry. I keep making you say that. Would you believe me if I said I’m usually a pretty quick study?”

"Well, we all have a weak spot," Alex said lightly. It wasn't even Michael's fault that not trusting anyone was his.

They got to the galley, and Michael pulled the chicken out of the fridge. Food preservation was still online, but  _ preparation  _ not so much. Michael also made a beeline for the coffee maker, and when Alex raised his eyebrow at that—surely it’d be as dead as all their other nonessential appliances?—Michael just grinned and said “Life support,” as it gurgled awake.

"You're kidding," Alex chuckled, as the smell of coffee pulled Maria out of bed. 

She staggered out to join them still in her pajamas, wearing a blanket, and going straight to Michael, to run her fingers through his hair. "How are you feeling this morning, baby? Better?"

Reaching out with her telepathy, she tried to reconnect with him, but found the same wall, the same glitch as before, sliding off him like water off a duck’s back. 

Her smile was forced. 

He couldn’t feel her attempt to touch his mind, but he could tell immediately that something was wrong. Would it be better to pull her closer or pull away so she didn’t have to deal with him?

He knew the answer to that, but he was still losing the war against remembering it when it mattered most.

“Head’s killing me. But I’m not...as bad, I guess. Sorry about that. At least the broken heating kept you guys from getting too sweaty with me all over you, huh?”

“We should be conserving heat during off-hours anyway, at least as long as I have you in bed with me,” Maria said, kissing his cheek. Maybe it was something she had done? She reached out to Alex mentally just to check, but no, he was still there, as dependable and deep as space itself. 

She poured herself a bowl of cereal while Alex went after the cold chicken. “So what time do we dock? I’ll give Liz a call and book us lodging so we can at least shower.” 

“Who’s Liz?” Michael asked, stomping down on his wariness. They wouldn’t lead him into danger. He could barely remember last night, but he remembered hearing Alex softly asking about doctors. Doctors sucked, but not as much as the pain he’d felt last night, or the bizarre hollowness he could still feel in the pit of his skull, like his soul was caught in the instant before a fall down the stairs, the feeling of expecting solid ground and finding only...missing.

“An old friend. I’m going to pay her a visit while you shop for the parts you need. Maria—dealer’s choice. You coming to see Liz or going to see the sights, such as they are?”

“You don’t get Liz all to yourself!” Maria complained, punching Alex lightly in the arm. “We should all go meet her. And then all go shopping.” 

Michael looked like she suggested he swallow burning coals at that, however, so she took pity on him. 

“Or...we go shopping first together and we leave you to work on the ship, if you prefer? We can meet Liz later.” She didn’t mind giving him her credit stick, but she didn’t want him wandering strange markets without her. He was safer on the ship. “We want you to meet Liz.” 

They wanted him to meet their friend. That was....

It meant something. He could tell it did, he just didn’t have words for it. Official? He’d never done this before. All he could imagine was all the ways he’d screw up and make them look bad in front of someone important.

If only he could reach out and find Maria there. She’d at least make him feel alright about not knowing.

“I’ll be faster if I can just go straight for what I need,” he said, absentmindedly, still trying to reach for her. Could she feel him? He didn’t think so. It was him, he was the one blocking them, trapped in some kind of bubble in his own head.

“I mean... _ sure _ ,” Maria said. Obviously she didn’t like that. Why couldn’t he get this right?

“Maybe after the ship’s up and running, we can have Liz over for dinner,” Alex suggested, thinking that Michael might feel better once the ship was in better shape. “We won’t make you cook for everyone, but we might make you plan a menu and give us a shopping list.” 

“Oh, I like that!” Maria said. “How about it, Michael? We’ll help you cook! Liz is great! We grew up together. We’ll have her bring her boyfriend or whatever…” 

“Sounds like a party,” Michael said weakly, anxiety spiking off of him.

“Or just Liz,” Maria corrected hastily. This was difficult without the telepathic bond. “We can talk about it.” 

She huffed, staring Michael down. “Or, we can go with what you want. I literally cannot read your mind now, so however you’d like this stop to go, we can do.” 

Michael flinched at that, hard and shrinking. Why was he so bad at this? And what’s more, he sucked at making decisions like this—Alex was the planner, Maria made everything go smoothly, Michael was just in case of emergencies.

“Parts shop first,” he said. “I...I guess all three of us, if that’s what you guys want. Then we can go meet your friend, and I’ll go back to the ship if I start freaking out before I make a total dick of myself. How’s that?”

"Okay," Maria said, taking Michael's hand and shaking it, a parody of a handshake to seal the deal, and she used this to tug him into a kiss. "Sounds great. Thank you."

Alex watched the exchange with a calculating eye. Maybe getting Michael to ask for things would be good for all of them, but it wasn't the most immediate concern. 

…

Docking in New Roswell always went smoothly, no matter how long it was since either Manes or Deluca had been back. Maria stepped off the Pony with a huge sigh of relief when the warm air hit her face. Cold was fine at night when you had a cuddly alien to heat things up, but it was a drag to deal with all day. New Roswell was desert-hot, though, and warmed her right through.

Her boys exited the ship right behind her, arm in arm. Alex was even more of a creature for warmth than Maria was, so he outright grinned and lifted his face to the bright yellow sun, so much like Earth’s. It was easy to see why Liz had settled here, for all the irony that came out of her running across the galaxy just to find a place that looked like home.

“Lead the way,” Michael said, gesturing to the bustle of New Roswell’s port. “I’ll be quick, promise.”

He still looked stressed, sick, a little gray even in the sunlight, and Maria went over to take his other arm.  _ God, please let Liz know someone who can help us reconnect _ , she thought, pressing herself to Michael. Maybe her mom could help, even, but that would be even  _ more  _ out of the way…

Shopping for ship parts actually seemed to perk Michael up. When he saw the size of their reserve funds his eyes grew huge. He had expected her to be operating on more of a shoestring budget. 

“No, she just takes shitty care of the  _ Pony _ ,” Alex commented, punching Maria in the arm, and she whacked him right back affectionately. 

“I can fix everything. I’ll fix everything!” Michael said, sounding so earnest and excited that Maria couldn’t help but laugh even though she was sad about it, too. Did he think he had to prove himself to them, still? 

“Alright, don’t get an engineer boner in public. Look, there’s Liz!”

“I hope you weren’t going to pay to get all that towed back to your ship, I brought my boyfriend’s truck!” Liz said, and the girls squealed as they embraced. 

Alex, if he didn’t quite squeal, definitely laughed as he joined in on the group hug. “When the hell did Kyle Valenti get a truck?”

“What? Oh, Dios mio, you guys have been gone a long time. No, no, different boyfriend. He’s a deputy. Thinks he’s a cowboy. He’s working today, otherwise he’d be here. Who’s this?” 

Liz marched straight for Michael and held out her hand. “Liz Ortecho. You hanging around with these losers?” 

Michael had a grin for her already prepared, even if the mention of a cop sent him cold. The idea of hanging out at Liz’s place suddenly didn’t seem all that appealing, even if it made his heart beat funny to see how happy Maria and Alex were to see her.

“They are  _ clearly  _ hanging around with  _ me, _ ” he drawled, batting his eyelashes at his lovers. “Anyone could see I’m punching above my weight class. But it’s all just part of my charm.” 

Liz seemed to like this answer, so Michael quit while he was ahead: he hooked his thumb at the box of parts. “Let me get this back to the  _ Pony.  _ I really shouldn’t wait to fix the power grid—it ok if we meet back up later and all do dinner?”

Alex huffed, appreciating the joke and the stroke to his ego, and glanced at Maria to confirm.

“Yeah, that’s fine.” Hopefully after the repairs were done, Michael would relax and be able to enjoy himself. “Alright, where’s this truck? I can’t believe you’re dating a guy with a truck. Does he also have a handlebar mustache and carry a six-shooter?” 

…

By the time Michael had finished a full reboot of the  _ Pony’s  _ power systems, installed the new failsafes, rebooted it again, checked and triple-checked his work, and taken a newly re-heated shower, he was feeling a hundred pounds lighter, light enough to whistle as he ran through his hefty diagnostics checklist. And when that was done, it was still a good hour before dinnertime, and he had nothing left to occupy himself with, at least nothing productive.

Ah, hell, why not make Alex and Maria’s friend a nice dinner? He didn’t know that much about the local cuisine, but he could head down to the market and find something—or maybe improvise, since she probably knew the local food way better than he did, being local, and his imitation might not be up to snuff. Whatever the case, it would be a challenge.

And hey, if her cop boyfriend came around, none of his outstanding warrants had him listed as a ship’s cook…

He left the ship, locked up behind him, and started off for the small grocer’s they’d passed earlier. All it took was a little conversation and laying on the charm, getting the man laughing, to walk out of there with a smile on his face and a basket of great ingredients at a more than fair price.

The sun glowed against his skin, and its warmth was amazing. He could see so clearly how this was a world that nurtured Alex and Maria into the people they became—warm and welcoming and strong.

He got back to the dock quickly. This town wasn’t complicated; it wasn’t hard to find his way. 

“Hey!” A voice barked, and Michael almost jumped out of his skin. He whipped around, and a man in a uniform and badge marched up…

To a weaselly looking bastard holding up the wall outside a saloon, who dropped his greasy cigar and ground it out with his boot as the cop approached.

“Problem, officer?”

“God damn it, Gibbons, this is the fourth time this week I’ve had a complaint about you. Are you going for a new record? If you can’t stay the hell away from Jwhils he’s going to finally press charges, and then what—“

Michael lost the rest of the conversation to the roaring in his ears. Small town conflict. Local human loser harasses nonhuman. Nothing to do with Michael. Nothing at all. 

It was cold comfort. God, he was stupid. What the fuck was he doing? Playing house until it caught up with them? Ruining the lives of two people he loved because it  _ felt _ good in the meantime? 

They didn’t want him to go. He knew, he knew that. And God, Michael didn’t want to go either. But he blinked and saw Maria, face twisted with fury, as he was hauled away slumped in handcuffs. He blinked and he saw Alex’s stunned grief through the bars of a cell. He blinked and felt just how it would feel, helpless, numb, alone, small, hurting, not if but when he brought destruction to the  _ Wild Pony.  _

Fuck. 

He had these groceries. He bought these groceries with ship money. He should bring them back. He should get his speeder. He should say goodbye. He should leave now without looking back. He should.

“Hey!”

He set down his basket and didn’t run. Didn’t draw attention to himself.

He left New Roswell at a walk, with steps so heavy he might as well already be in chains.

…

Alex and Maria returned, laughing, with Liz in tow, to find the  _ Wild Pon _ y empty. 

"Maybe he went to get groceries?" Maria suggested hopefully, though not confidently. "Maybe there's another part he needed?"

"Maybe," Alex said, also trying not to worry. Michael’s transport was still in the cargo bay, and things were locked up alright, so it was obvious Michael had intentionally left and not been dragged out by the police...who would have needed a warrant and to contact Maria…

"Liz!" Someone shouted, and then a huge beefcake of a dude was jogging towards them. No handlebar mustache, but he had a cowboy hat and even wore a deputy's  _ star _ . 

"You must be Max," Maria said sweetly, though she didn't much care for cops on principle. 

"And you must be Maria and Alex," Max said, seeming earnest enough. Maybe even too earnest, as he shook both their hands. "Liz has told me a lot about you. It's great to meet you. This your ship?"

"Yep," Maria said. 

"We're just looking for our boyfriend...he should be around here somewhere..." Alex said.

If Max was scandalized by ‘our boyfriend,’ he didn’t show it, so, already not looking to be That Kind of Cop, though Alex and Maria both kept their reservations. “I think we’ll go check the market and meet up with you guys for dinner, if you want.” 

“Sure, I’m off at 1800,” Max said. “I’m on duty now, technically, Cam called me in to look into some kinda junk thief. She’s kind of a prankster, though, it might just be an excuse to let me see Liz.” 

Maria and Alex looked at each other warily. 

“A...junk thief?” Maria chuckled, just interested and disbelieving enough to get Max to talk. 

“Yeah, someone flew off in, like, the least spaceworthy craft the junkyard just over here had to offer. I guess you guys haven’t seen a roughly six-foot, 180-pound white male human looking shifty around here?” Max chuckled. 

“That...could be a lot of people,” Alex suggested. 

But Maria had a bad feeling about this. 

“Mostly I want to make sure he doesn’t kill himself,” Max said, though he seemed to pick up on Maria’s concern, and frowned. “I’m so sorry, excuse me, are you...telepathic?” 

“Me? Uh, yeah, half,” Maria said, her head hurting a little as she tried to block this guy out. He seemed nice enough, but—

“Yeah, so we’re gonna...just—can you excuse us, for a second?” Alex asked in his most polite tone, but he was already marching Maria inside the  _ Wild Pony _ and shutting the door in their faces. 

“Great, they’ve got a telepath cop here,” Maria all but hissed. “Do you think he’d be looking for Michael?” 

“ _ We’re _ looking for Michael,” Alex growled, stalking to the cockpit and scanning the ship properly to make sure he wasn’t just napping in a heat duct or something, but nothing. He was definitely not on the ship, and the last time he was registered on it was an hour ago. “Do you think he repaired everything and just...split? Jesus, what a way to break up.” 

“Don’t…” Maria said, following Alex, but her headache had abated somewhat. “Maybe he’s just—a-at the market.” 

Alex turned around in the pilot’s chair. “You can feel him, right? Like, you can sense where he is even if he’s not letting you in?” 

“I-I—” 

“Come on! You found me when Flint kidnapped me, and I’m not even telepathic,” Alex said with intensity. “Try, Maria, please.” 

“I can only sense him if he’s in a certain range—I only found you that time because anything that happens to you, your family is a safe bet for the bad guy. So no, I don’t feel him, b-but it doesn’t have to mean anything, I mean…” With a few sharp clacks on the keyboard, she pulled up the security camera from his cargo bay. “I mean, he didn’t just switch out the speeder for a new hunk of junk, he left  _ everything.  _ Either he’s coming back or something h-happened.”

“Well, our new cop friend would know if he was in custody, right? Michael didn’t mention any gambling debts? Trouble with the mob or anything, did he?” Alex asked. He sucked on his lip before saying, “I...suppose he has your credit stick still.” 

Maria patted her pockets. “Oh, shit, yeah. I mean—I mean—he didn’t—he wouldn’t, right?”

“Right. Right? I mean, it’s taken him this long to stop acting like a wolf in a trap at the thought of us giving him a fair  _ paycheck.  _ He wouldn’t.” 

But Maria didn’t have to be telepathic to hear the same note of fearful, shameful doubt in his voice that she felt in her own chest.

“Let me pull up my bank account, see if he’s used it. If he was making off with our money, he wouldn’t have stolen some death trap from a ship graveyard, right?”

Maria clicked away on her datapad. 

“No, it’s—look, okay, he bought  _ groceries _ ,” she said. “God, what a—a sweetheart, or a dick, I’m not sure which. That was an hour ago. And—and then what?” 

Her eyes were brimming with tears, but it was Alex who let a tear fall first. “He must have got scared? Or kidnapped? What the fuck, Maria? Why didn’t we give him a comm? Why didn’t I put a fucking  _ tracker  _ on him?” 

Maria’s datapad blipped, and on automatic she checked the message, even though it was just from Liz—but she was immediately glad she checked it. 

_ Liz: Off the record, here’s the secure cam footage. If that’s your guy, just make sure he’s ok  _ __   
_ Liz: This is Max _ _   
_ __ Liz: [Attachment]

“Oh, my god.” Attached was a blurry picture of some idiot with his arms inside a real junker. Maria’s heart pounded before her brain even caught up: “Holy shit, Alex, that’s him.”

“Jesus Christ,” Alex said while looking over her shoulder, and started up the engines. 

Maria’s eyes were frozen on the footage, on the frantic, furtive quickness to his movements, the hunted swivel of his head every few seconds, like the slightest noise was only making him more terrified. The feed switched to another camera before he took off, then looped. Maria shut it off. She couldn’t watch anymore.

“What the fuck,” she whispered.

_ What the fuck, Michael? _ The charge on her credit stick—groceries, fresh vegetables and meat, enough to feed five, even, enough to welcome Liz’s boyfriend if he decided to come—how could the man who did a thing like that be the same haunted, cornered man from the security footage?

“We’ll find him,” Alex said firmly, solidly, his hand gripping her knee both to get and give comfort. “Whether it’s to bring him home or just to get answers, we’ll find him.”

“Okay. Yeah.” She took a deep breath. Cool not cold, dry and crisp, the way the air always was on a well-run spaceship. Michael did that, even before the latest real problem he had to fix; he was magic, machines just bent to him like sunflowers to the sun back on Earth. He transformed the  _ Wild Pony  _ just by climbing into the heart of it and listening to what she needed and doing his best to give it back.

People were harder. People were so much harder. But that didn’t mean it didn’t hurt that he couldn’t do that for them, for himself, for the three of them together.

“We’ll find him,” Alex said a third time, and started the takeoff sequence.


	6. Chapter 6

New Roswell didn’t stand out from near orbit. Barely a fleck on the dry landscape. Michael couldn’t look away.

Almost three hours. Maybe they were taking extra time to visit with Liz. Maybe they were looking for him. Maybe the _police_ were looking for him, and the _Pony_ had been detained. Fuck, he was so stupid, he had to go back, keep them safe—

No. This was for the best. Anyway, it was too late, it wasn’t like they’d want him back now. Running was the worst thing he could have done. It made him look guilty. 

Not like he was getting far. The cruiser he’d stolen sucked. No wonder someone trashed it. It would barely get him to Skain. But that was okay. If he didn’t find what he was looking for there, it was probably time to start reading the signs. Stop looking for things he wasn’t meant to have. Find some other ship and head out into the black and never stop running at all. Stop looking for family in the papers. Stop looking for family in his memories.

Stop looking for family in asteroid bars, where he made himself a third at a table meant for two.

Fuck. He was so fucking stupid, and his head was killing him, his pulse a hammer in his temples. But he couldn’t close his eyes, couldn’t blink, couldn’t lose sight of New Roswell for even a second. He had to see the _Wild Pony_ disappear, make sure they got off-planet okay. Steal himself a goodbye.

* * *

“Picking up some space junk on scanners. Do we think that’s our space junk?” Alex asked. 

“I don’t know, feels like it could be,” Maria said, gritting her teeth through the pounding headache she was getting from focusing too hard, like trying to read in the dark. 

“Ready that tractor beam.” 

“Oh, I’m ready. He’s not getting away without a God damned explanation,” Maria said. 

She wasn’t the one with combat training, but she did occasionally man the weapons systems, to which the tractor beams and ion cannons were also attached. This was primarily because Alex was the better pilot by far, and their shields were as a rule worse than Maria’s aim. They weren’t worried Michael was going to shoot at them, but he might try to run. 

“Come to Daddy,” Alex whispered, and punched the excelerator until he was right on top of the space junk seemingly out of nowhere, lining Maria up to fire. 

“I just realized we’re going to have to actually board him for real. Unless we want to vent all his shit from cargo bay 2,” Maria said, grunting as she hit the trigger with more force than necessary. “Got him!” 

“He might deserve that, but no,” Alex said. “Direct hit, nice job. I’ll attach the umbilical. You want to drag him back by his hair like a cavewoman or make him crawl to us on his hands and knees?” 

Maria pursed her lips. “That’s up to him.” 

“Mmm,” Alex said, like he didn’t totally agree.

* * *

If Michael’s heart was a lead weight when he saw the _Pony_ leave orbit, it fell through the floor when his bucket of bolts shuddered like a dying animal straining against the tractor beam, before he put the engine out if its misery and sat there in the cold still dark, waiting to be boarded.

For a wild second, he thought the police had come for him after all, but no. He knew that ship.

His shitty rust bucket shuddered dangerously as the umbilical connected, and the sudden pounding on the hatch startled him. They were not messing around. 

“Guerin, what the fuck?!” Maria cried from the other side, and the fact that he could hear her through the hull was probably a bad sign. 

“Open the door or I’m gonna blow it open,” came Alex’s only marginally calmer voice. “What were you thinking going into fucking space in this thing?” 

Michael scrambled to hit the door release—predictably, it stuck and screeched loudly as it swung open—and scrambled backward in the tiny space to let them both in. There wasn’t much room to maneuver; it meant boxing himself in, leaving them between him and the door, but that was okay.

As for Alex’s question: he hadn’t been. Hadn’t been thinking at all, he’d just needed to go. That was the greatest thing about running, in fact.

So he stood there with his mouth open, not knowing how to answer, feeling weightless and breathless and horribly horribly guilty now that they were in front of him. Every millisecond that passed stole more of the air from his lungs.

“I—I—” he stuttered, shaking his head.

Alex was afraid to touch him, he looked so scared and cagey and dumb and sad, but Maria marched right up to him and grabbed his shoulders. Michael flinched like he expected an actual blow, but Maria only shook him in frustration. "You scared the shit out of us! What happened?"

Shaking his head, Michael staggered back, out of her grip and into the busted-up pilot’s seat, dropping his head into his hands. “I wasn’t. I wasn’t thinking, I—there was a cop, and I just _ran._ I didn’t want to lead them back to the _Pony,_ so I—fuck, I dropped the food, I wasted all that money, I’ll pay you back, I’ll wire it to you if you don’t want to see me again, I got the comms system running first thing so I could—could call, if you, if I—” His voice cut off, and he made a sound like he was choking on it.

"Michael, you dumb…" Maria began, but frustrated now more than mad. She shook him again, and dropped to her knees in front of him in the chair. She might have been sobbing, but from anger or sadness or relief even she couldn't tell. "Damn it, Michael! You don't have to pay me back. Keep the money. I just want to know you're _okay…_ "

“Don’t, oh god, don’t cry,” Michael said, and he raised his hands so slowly, carefully so Maria could pull back if she wanted to, and he wiped all her tears away with his fingers shaking, touching her again was so soft. The hair on his arms stood on end like it had been lifetimes since they touched instead of hours. “I’m sorry. I’m not okay, I know I’m not, I hurt you both, and I—I—” 

He looked helplessly up at Alex, god, all he wanted was for them to _know,_ and he flinched at the look on Alex’s face, but didn’t, couldn’t look away.

Alex stood there, obviously too angry to trust himself to speak, arms folded. And then a tear slid down one cheek. “God damn it, Guerin,” he said. 

And then everything clicked back into place. 

Michael jerked, a pain shooting through his head, and then gasped at the tension flowing out of him, like fresh water returning to a choked and littered stream, and oh, he could feel Maria again, and Alex through her, they were furious but he didn't care, they were back in his head, in his chest, in his soul, and he wasn’t alone anymore, he wasn’t—!

“Ah, ah, ah, ah,” he didn’t even notice his breath was making harsh, soft, staccato little sounds, until Maria crawled into his lap and he let her, arms winding around her waist, holding her so close.

“You _idiot,_ ” she sobbed, holding his face, shaking him again, and then she relaxed into his body, hugging him tightly. 

"Easy, easy," Alex said, putting a hand on the back of Michael's neck. He sighed, feeling instantly lighter, better, knowing Michael was there. _He didn't want to leave them_ , thank God. "Damn it. We need to get you a personal comm. Or a fucking tracking collar."

Maria laughed wetly. "Let's get back on the ship. We're gonna blow up here."

Alex was probably joking about the collar, but Michael couldn’t help but blush a little bit at the thought, and blush harder when his intent trickled through their renewed bond again. It was just—the idea of being _owned_ like that, in the crudest way, scratched an itch deep inside him that he barely knew was there himself.

“Seriously,” Alex said, while Maria logged that information away for later, “Were you going to go all the way to Skain in this? 

“That was the idea,” Michael said with a grim little laugh.

It was a bad plan. He’d known from the start, but never felt it more acutely than now, comparing this feeling to how he would have felt (alone) on his own, hurtling through the beautiful emptiness.

"You're not alone anymore," Maria said, shaking him again, and not qualifying it with a 'as long as you want to be' because she knew now that Michael didn't want it or need it. "So stop acting like it. I could strangle you, Guerin!" 

“I know, I know,” he murmured, resting his head on her shoulder, curling up into her for just a second before pulling back so she could slide off his lap and let him stand.

Before he could move, though, Alex pulled him bodily up and into a tight hug, fierce and protective.

"Let's get back to our ship and send this space junk back where it belongs. And then we can talk about strangling. Or…collaring."

“I slapped together a rudimentary autopilot meant to take the derelict back to the scrapyard if anything happened to it,” Michael said, waving at the console. “Hey, maybe if I put it back where I found it, they won’t press charges.”

"They're not going to press charges," Alex sighed, ushering them ahead of him back up through the umbilical, herding cats. "You stole literal junk. They wanted to make sure you weren't going to kill yourself. Though I don't necessarily want anyone to see your other warrants, so I'm fine if we just head out…"

"You said you dropped the groceries? I mean we're only 3 days from our rendezvous, so you'll just have to get creative with rations until then—as punishment." Maria’s eyes sparkled. "I'll tell Liz we'll hook up on our way back from Skain so we don't get any further behind schedule. Okay?" 

"Okay," Michael agreed, relieved more than he could comprehend.

Once they were back in the _Pony_ , Alex jettisoned the junk. He grinned at Michael, shaking his head. "You know sometimes it's fun to be an actual space pirate, even just for a while. Boarding an enemy ship, kidnapping people…"

Together, he and Maria pushed him against the hull. "Capturing booty…" Maria added, already going through his pockets and taking her credit stick back. 

“I wasn’t trying to steal from you. I would have sent it back.” Michael felt that they probably knew that already, but he had to say it. “Or just deactivated it and told you to get a new one, I wasn’t...I wasn’t…”

“Hush,” Alex said, sliding his hand into Michael’s other pocket, just because.

"I know," Maria told him, touching his face, really feeling his mind and heart, pressing on him like her weight could hold him down, hold him steady. "You're not stupid for not knowing things you were never taught, but that was a stupid thing you just did. You trust us, okay?"

Not a suggestion, _you can trust us_ , but an imperative, _you must trust us_. "We love you."

Like they might disappear if he wasn’t touching them, Michael pulled Maria back in so tight he almost lifted her off her feet, and he clutched Alex’s hand over his pocket until Alex clutched him back, the three of them embracing against the cold wall of the _Pony_ ’s hull until it began to warm from absorbing Michael’s heat.


	7. Chapter 7

“So, I don’t think we should be having sex until we work out the rest,” Maria said while they were eating some concoction of emergency rations that was actually pretty tasty, if weird in texture, that Michael had prepared. Michael really was pretty magical, making up for the fact that they had no fresh food. She gave Michael a side-eye as she said this, not sure how he’d take it—or how Alex would respond, for that matter. “I’ll come right out and say it, ‘the rest’ is pretty important to me. And I don’t want to fuck when we should be talking.” 

Alex rubbed her arm and smiled a brief, tense smile. 

Michael’s presence pressed on her mind, all clumsy and warm like a big puppy pressing against her leg to comfort her. This was still so new to him, but he was trying, the only way he knew how.

He nodded, pushing his plate away and folding his arms on the table. “Okay. I understand. Talking is...important. Do we want to talk here, now, or…?”

“I...don’t want to stop talking until it’s better,” Maria said, but for all that, she didn’t quite know how to begin. 

Alex picked up on this, and was happy to start with his number one concern: 

“Michael, we cannot be afraid you’re going to disappear on us the second we turn our backs,” he said, if not quite sharply then intensely. “Paranoia isn’t sexy.” 

“It’s not fair to us,” Maria agreed. “I’m still—mad. But you have to understand it’s because I care about you that I’m mad, so I don’t want you to close off from me.” 

Michael slid his hand a little across the table, hoping one of them would take it, but understanding why they might not want to. “I get it. I—I get why you might think I wouldn’t, but…” His eyes fell; he clenched his jaw. “I don’t...I don’t _want_ to be like this. Cagey and stubborn a-and unreliable. I think I get it better now. I won’t run again—I’m, I’m sorry it took this much to get through to me.”

Maria reached out and took his hand immediately after that, and Alex laid a hand over both of theirs. 

“We’re not expecting you to be perfect,” she said. “Just come to us if you’re having a problem.”

“Can you promise that?” Alex demanded, and then paused, and tried again: “What...can we do to make you want to do that?” 

“You haven’t given up on me yet,” Michael said softly. “I think that’s proof enough.”

“I don’t plan on it,” Maria said, kissing Michael’s work-rough hands. “Even if you’re like a horse who spooks at plastic bags.”

“Not that a cop isn’t a genuine threat. Cops are worth avoiding and calling us about. Not dropping groceries and blowing town over,” Alex said, poking at his dinner kind of sadly. “You’re lucky she’s a softie.” 

Maria huffed. “He’s the softie! I wanted to blow you out of the sky,” she said, testing some nuance across their bond with a little teasing. 

Anxiety skittered across both their nerves, but Michael breathed through it, covering Alex’s hand with his other. The stack of hands was looking a little ridiculous at this point, but who cared? If she was being serious, he would feel it, so...trust. He could do that. He could.

“If you’d blown me out of the sky, you would have had to make dinner yourself,” he said.

“And you _know_ I’d never do that,” Maria said, tugging him into a kiss. Her whole being said _Yes, good, good boy, I love you, I’m so pleased with you_ , like he had passed a test.

“So, I’ve been looking up this mind-healing stuff that your long-lost-possibly-sister does,” Alex said, pulling up a datapad. “And if you wanted to try therapy, er, not from your sister, I guess, that seems weird, but in general, you can get some introductory sessions with your cut from this mission.” 

“I’m looking into local jobs, so we could stay around there, if you wanted,” Maria said, and fielded the next bit: “I kind of want to insist you try some sessions. We could even do some classes together to learn about—uh, being Antaran, I guess. Why we do what we do. Or how.” 

Michael hesitated. “It...would probably be a good idea. If any of their mind healers are tough enough to handle me.” It was a joke, but not a particularly funny one. “From what I’ve read in books, Antarans...really aren’t meant. To be alone as long as I was. We either find _some_ compatible species or individual, or we die. So I’m not really looking forward to being a mind-medical marvel, but. I know. I need this.”

Maria nodded, getting up and standing beside his chair, pulling him into her arms and pressing his head against her chest so he could hear her heart beating. 

"Are Antarans supposed to believe in destiny? Fate?” Maria asked. “Maybe you were waiting for us. I’m sorry you had to wait so long, my love.” 

Alex stood up and wound his arms around Michael from the other side. 

“Or maybe you’re just the strongest Antaran in the galaxy,” he mused, rubbing the back of Michael’s neck.

“Flatterers,” he said. “No matter what the reason is, I’m just glad I’m here now.” And he let his eyes fall shut, leaning into the arms around him. His quiet, awe-struck contentment broke over both of them like the sun coming out of the clouds.

“You feel good,” Maria said, passing one knuckle between his eyes and over the bridge of his nose. “Can you feel him, Alex?”

“I can,” Alex answered softly. “Through you.” He tilted Michael’s head back to look him in the eye. “Can you feel me?” 

Michael shook his head, a little gray dimming the light of his feelings. “You’d think it would be a two way street, but...no. Or maybe I’m just not experienced enough and I can’t tell you apart from Maria.”

“That’s okay, we’ll work on it,” Maria said. 

“You’re not missing much,” Alex said wryly. “I’m vaguely annoyed all the time. Probably not good for a telepath with anxiety to connect too much with me.” 

“Hey,” Michael said, moving out of Maria’s arms so he could press up into Alex’s, standing up so he could hug him, press their foreheads together. “I _want_ to feel you. To connect with you. The connection isn’t just there to make us feel good, it’s there so we can _know_ each other. Good and bad. I want to know you.”

Alex smiled tightly, touched almost to tears. “Well, when we get there, I’ll remind you you asked for it.” 

Michael cupped the back of Alex’s head and kissed him, lingering and light, thumb rubbing small circles against the top of his spine. Then he leaned down to kiss Maria as well, her forehead, then the tip of her nose, then her mouth, open and waiting for him.

… 

They were three days from Skain, from the answers Michael had been seeking his entire life, from a chance to get the help he needed. Three days of Michael flexing his culinary creativity, of movie nights where no one really talked and no one made a move, of fragile, concerned tension and nervous excitement. They spent each night in bed together—even when they tried to sleep alone, they found they couldn’t, and wound up curled around each other in the end.

And on the morning of the fourth day, they docked at a bustling port two miles from the University, and prepared themselves to wait, arm in arm in arm, for Isobel Evans, Michael’s possibly long-lost sister, to get out of her final Mind Healer exam.

Maria was the first to see a familiar face in the crowd: Liz’s deputy boyfriend, also milling around, with a bouquet of flowers. Without alarming Michael, she got up and walked around to Max’s other side before hailing him: “Uh, hey—Max, right?” 

Max turned and beamed at her, as Alex and Michael noticed him for the first time. “Whoa, hey! Maria, right? I thought you guys had business on the moons.” 

“We did,” she said, brushing hair out of her face. “We’re just, ah, waiting for someone. What are you doing here?” 

“Oh, my sister’s taking her exam today. When she walks out of there, she’ll be a certified mind-healer, I’m just gonna take her to dinner afterwards. Did you find your friend? Is he okay?” 

Maria laughed, a little awkwardly. “Uh, yeah, he’s, it was a...misunderstanding. I hope everything was alright with the junkyard, he made sure the scrap was put back where he found it…”

“No harm, no foul. Old Sanders never even noticed. Is Alex here? Oh, there they are!” 

He waved the hand not holding flowers in the direction of Alex and Michael, the latter of whom was looking decidedly green with anxiety. 

How many guys named Max would be waiting on their sisters today? Lightly, trying not to freak out, but definitely picking up on Michael’s near-freakout, Maria said, “Hey, Max, what’s your sister’s name?”

“Her name’s Isobel. Who are you all waiting for?” Max responded cheerfully. 

Maria and Alex froze, glancing at Michael. 

And in that moment of awkwardness, Max, who normally kept his telepathy off to not pick up on people’s background thoughts, turned it on Michael. He blinked. 

“You’re Antaran, aren’t—both of you?” Max said, a little breathless, a little excited. “I—sorry, I’m sorry, that was rude, I don’t normally—” 

Michael shook his head frantically, not as a denial, but just because he didn’t know what to do, what to say. Most of his life, he’d thought about this moment, but now that it was here, he was—he was—

“Oh my God, you’re _that_ Max,” Maria said. 

Alex put his hand on Michael’s back, steadying him. 

“You’re—you’re—!” Max’s excitement bubbled up, overflowed, and he rushed a few steps towards Michael. “I know you! Where have you been—no, that’s wrong, I mean—we’ve been looking for you for so long, I’m so glad you’re here.”

He tried to reach out, to wrap his senses around Michael’s the way a brother would, but he...couldn’t get a grip. He tried again, and...nothing. Michael took a step back. 

“Probably not what you were expecting, huh,” Michael said wryly. He should reach out to Max too, follow his lead, he was the _real_ Antaran, but he was feeling too many things that he wasn’t sure if he wanted Max to feel.

“No, no, it’s—” Max took a deep breath. He didn’t tug on the anchor in his mind where Isobel always was, not wanting to disturb her exam, and to Michael, he reached out physically, extending his hand. 

Max’s eyes were shining, but he held back. It was the height of rudeness to engage in more than a passing brush of minds without permission, and Max knew without really connecting that Michael wasn’t well. But he was here, and they could help him now. 

“I’m Max. I’m so happy to finally meet you.”

Michael looked him up and down and swallowed heavily. 

_Family._ Here and real, not a picture, in the flesh, not a dream. How could he have ever been ready?

“Michael,” he said, and shook. “I can’t believe I missed you on New Roswell.” 

Max tugged him into a hug by his hand. Maria and Alex flinched as Michael panicked, but Max didn’t seem bothered by Michael’s panic or his stiffness. 

“I can’t believe you’re here! Isobel’s going to be so happy—we-we didn’t know your name, how did you find us? Michael,” Max said it again, like he was enjoying the way it felt in his mouth. He held Michael out at arm’s length, beaming. “Michael! You’re _here_.” 

“I, uh,” Michael winced; this was going to sound awful no matter what. “I remembered the name of the speeder that your, uh, parents took you away in. Back then. So when I was old enough to strike out on my own, I looked them up and found you. Been searching ever since. I’ve had some...setbacks along the way.”

“Right,” Max said, growing serious. “We—Isobel and I—when we were old enough to realize what had happened, we tried to find you, but there was no record of you once you’d left the group home, and…”

“I get it,” Michael cut him off, “I don’t want to dwell on it, let’s just wait for Isobel, yeah? You can tell me about how you ended up being a _cop_ when your parents are that friggin loaded.”

“Oh, ugh, don’t bring them into it,” Max groaned, laughing, still squeezing Michael’s shoulders in a way that made Maria and Alex prickle with jealousy. “You notice they’re not _here_ , right?” 

Max opened up the space between him and Michael to welcome Maria and Alex back into their conversation. “Sorry, I’m sorry, folks. Thank you. Thank you for bringing him to us. You’re Antaran, too, right?” 

Maria lifted her chin warily. “Just half. Raised by my human mother.” 

She definitely suspected that Max felt sorry for them both like they were raised by wolves, but she couldn’t prove it. 

“Awesome! Sorry, I didn’t mean to pry. We were raised by humans, too, though we grew up around a lot of Antarans. Ah, some Antarans are very careful about telepathic etiquette, which—whatever. I prefer asking aloud, anyway, do you mind if we connect?” Max asked. 

“Yes, I do mind,” Maria said firmly. She wondered if that was rude, too, but Max didn’t seem to take any offense whatsoever. 

“Right, that’s fine. I prefer to do things the old-fashioned way. You’ll come to dinner with us, won’t you? All of you? What are the chances, man—it is a small galaxy, after all!” 

The three of them shared a look. Michael was distinctly overwhelmed, but leaning on Maria and Alex—Maria mentally, Alex physically—kept him grounded, centered. Reuniting with two long-lost siblings in one day was maybe more than he bargained for. 

“I just got here; you’re not getting away from me that easily,” Michael snarked, and Max beamed.

“Great, great,” Max said, rubbing his hands a little nervously. The flowers were now crushed, and Maria sensed now that Max was a little nervous, too. Guilty, yes, but he was happy. She figured they could trust him—and here she wondered if he could tell she was reading him…

 _Yeah, I can_ , Max’s voice said in her head, and it took everything in Maria to keep from screaming aloud or jumping out of her skin. 

_Sorry! Sorry! Has anyone ever—?_

_No! I mean I can kind of hear Alex’s thoughts if he really tries, but—_

_I’m sorry, I’ll—_

_No,_ Maria thought back at him. _This is fine. I have a lot of questions for you. On how this works._

_I have some for you, too, if you don’t mind me asking. Yours first._

_How do I learn everything about how my telepathic powers work? And about the tentacles??_

Max seemed to laugh, or blush. _Well, if you want Isobel to explain it to you, she’s really good at it. Maybe too good. We can also get you some data crystals if reading’s more your thing._

Maria got the feeling that reading was more Max’s thing. 

This conversation passed as long as it took to think the thoughts, and then Maria casually brushed Michael’s hair out of his face. 

_Michael really needs your help_ , Maria thought at Max, hoping Michael couldn’t hear her, too. 

_I...sort of gathered that. Don’t worry, we want to help. And no, he shouldn’t be able to hear us, unless you’re bleeding your thoughts, unintentionally or on purpose. I don’t think you are._

_...Thanks_ , Maria thought begrudgingly, just as the doors opened and a dozen or so students exited the building, some of them regally, some of them celebrating obnoxiously. One of these, cheering and running, was a tall, thin, model-looking woman with blonde hair, who was screaming and running straight for Max through the crowd. 

“Izzy!” Max cried, opening his arms wide. 

But before she reached him, Isobel actually skidded to a halt, turning to Michael, drawn to him. 

_Brother_? she said, instantly breaking through to him, though she didn’t even know his name. She looked to Max, torn between confused, overjoyed, and sad, and then stepped to Michael, holding out a shaking hand as though to press it to his chest, like she didn’t believe he was really there. 

“Um, hey,” Michael said, taking her hand. “I guess you remember me?”

Isobel used the handhold to tug him into a hug, just like Max had done, squeezing him as tightly as she could, like they’d known each other their entire lives rather than just a few short moments on either end of it. He stood stiffly for a second but relaxed, squeezing her back. Then she pulled away and rested a hand on his cheek.

“What took you so long, asshole?” she almost-sobbed through an enormous grin.

“Took a wrong turn at the _Albuquerque_?”

She gurgled out a laugh and hugged him again. Everyone pretended to mishear the slight misquote. Alex wanted to show him some Looney Toons immediately. 

"You go by Michael?" Isobel asked.

Michael nodded dumbly. 

"Max, where did you find him? Is this my present?"

Max laughed. "No, he found us. And get this, Iz, this is Maria and Alex, who grew up on Earth with Liz!"

"It's a small galaxy," she commented, slinging an arm through Michael's in a way that made Maria intensely jealous. "You're coming to dinner with us, right?"

“I’m not exactly dressed to impress, but sure,” Michael said. “Max said we were all invited, so as long as there’s no issue there…”

Isobel peered over Michael’s shoulder at Alex and Maria and smiled all bright and sharp. “Of course! I just want to know everything about you, which means everything about them, too.”

And everyone got the sense that if she didn’t like what she found—if Maria and Alex had anything to do with keeping Michael away or tried to take him away now—she’d turn their brains into pudding.

“Isobel,” Max said, warning in his voice, but fondness too, like he was used to this from her.

“Not much to tell.” Maria glared, feeling threatened in a way she never had before. There was something about Isobel that made her nervous, in a too-familiar way. Perhaps she could just tell that they were similar in personality and wouldn’t hit it off. Perhaps she thought Isobel was going to take Michael away from all of this, away from _her_. 

Alex, sensing that his best friend was a ticking time bomb, took her hand, suggesting, “Maybe we should go get changed before we go anywhere.” 

Max and Isobel looked like they were having a mental conversation the rest of them weren’t privy to before Isobel relaxed and held up her hands. “Of course. I have to get changed, too, actually. Meet us at a bar downtown called Ophiuchus, say, six o’clock?”

Reluctantly, Isobel transferred her hold of Michael to Maria. 

“We’re going to a restaurant called Zodiac, afterward,” Max said. “And it’s my treat, I insist. So come hungry.” 

“If you want to see the sights until then, or do some shopping, there’s a great little strip mall for the college if you just follow this path down about a kilometer,” Isobel said, like she had read their minds but just wanted to be helpful. “Some clothes shops and a great little bookstore.” 

“Sounds good,” Alex said.

The thought of Max and Isobel walking away sent fear and rejection skittering across Michael’s nerves, and the twins exchanged alarmed looks that they hastily tried to stuff under neutral smiles.

“Here, here’s our comm info so you can call us if something comes up, or so we can call you if we’re gonna be early or late or anything,” Max said, and all their comms lit up with his ping.

Embarrassed, Michael accepted the ping and said nothing.

Isobel jumped forward to hug him again and to ruffle his hair. “There’s a health and beauty shop down there too if you wanted to do something to this—no wait! Don’t! I want to be there to instruct.”

At Maria’s answering surge of alarmed fury—someone _doing something_ to Michael’s hair?—Alex interceded before she could.

“We’ll see you then,” he said, steering Michael and Maria away.

"When are we getting married," Maria hissed bitterly once they were out for earshot. "I already want to kill my in-laws."

She pulled Michael behind a huge flowering bush to start messing with his hair, arranging his curls like a vase of flowers. 

"Relax, DeLuca," Alex laughed, coming up behind her to wrap his arms around her. "She's not going to take him away." His eyes glittered with mischief at Michael. "See, anyone can be insecure with the right motivation."

Maria elbowed him in the ribs sharply. 

Michael still looked a little stunned, but at Maria’s reaction he smiled and reached behind her to pluck one of the flowers, a cluster of three small, orange blossoms with curling petals, and tucked it behind her ear. 

“Thank you,” he said.

"Thank me if I survive dinner without killing your long-lost sister," Maria muttered, but now that she was gone she supposed she overreacted. "What does _she_ know about curly hair?"

" _Anyway_ ," Alex said, rubbing Michael's neck, "what if we check out the library Isobel mentioned? And maybe go shopping, that could be fun."

“She’s not that bad,” Michael teased as they started down the street. “Insults about my hair aside.”

He was maybe provoking her, just a little bit. It was wrong of him to be so satisfied at being fought over, but...there it was.

“I’ll be civil, for you,” Maria said, but she was quickly distracted by shopping. 

They passed several boutiques full of expensive clothes and luxury items (one store entirely dedicated to spoiling exotic pets had Maria grabbing a tracking collar out of the bargain bin and waving it in Alex and Michael’s direction lasciviously) before they found the bookstore selling datacrystals on every subject. Now determined to read up on everything Antaran just so she didn’t have to ask Isobel anything awkward, Maria bought several books on Antaran sex, a self-help Antaran telepathy ettiquete book, and a few others. 

“Anything look good to you, Michael?” she asked, taking her purchases towards the checkout counter, while Alex stuck to the _Special Interest - Humans - Sex_ section laughing at every other crystal. 

“Depends, how skittish are you about renovations to the _Pony_?” he replied. “I was thinking—we don’t have to talk about this now, it can wait—I’m not really getting a whole lot out of the cargo bay as a bedroom, but it’s a good space.” He spun a datacrystal around his finger; Maria couldn’t make out the title, but it was something about tomatoes in space. “It would need localized climate systems, lighting alterations, a whole mess of other things, but, uh. Gardening. It’s a hobby.”

Maria and Alex both looked at him in amazement, and then looked at each other in delight. Michael hadn’t been very open about his passions and hobbies before. They almost thought he didn’t have any. 

“Well—sure! Of course!” Maria said. 

“She loves renos,” Alex agreed. “She needs renos.”

“Get whatever you like. We can get seeds or plants before we leave, too,” Maria said, kissing him. At least this would distract the clerk from all the sex books and how-telepathy-works books. 

“Nah, there’s a lot of work to get done before it’s ready for anything living, but I did see a nursery on our way up. Might be fun to take a look.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Alex said.

Misty-eyed, Maria added, “Imagine never having to rely on emergency rations again…”

When she focused back on Michael, he was staring absentmindedly back at the stacks.

“Was there something else you were looking for?” Alex asked.

“Oh, uh, no, not really. If you guys are ready, we can go.”

Alex raised an eyebrow but didn’t force the issue of making Michael ask for the things he wanted. Baby steps. 

Instead, he said, “I was actually going to go look at some sheet music. It’s been too long since I actually sat down and played.”

Michael perked up at that. “Music?”

Maria and Alex both came over all soft at the excitement in his voice.

“Yeah, you wanna come look with me?”

“Actually—surprise me. There’s something else I’m looking for.”

Alex chuckled and went back to perusing. 

The stack of data crystals they bought meant that they didn’t have much of a budget leftover for new clothes, but the boys each got a nice new shirt that seemed to be in the local fashion. Maria and Michael were briefly distracted by...briefs, having never seen underwear made for Antarans that covered and supported their tentacles properly before. Alex laughed a little at how unsexy they were, which only made them more determined to buy several pairs each. 

“How else will we know you love us for our personalities, hm?” Maria teased. 

Laden down with their shopping, they returned to the ship. Michael had a few messages on his new communicator:

_Max: Sorry if we came on a little strong! It’s just so amazing to see you! Can’t wait to catch up with you later tonight!_

_Max: Can I send a cab for you so you guys can have a few drinks without worrying?_

_Max: Actually, Isobel’s got this huge penthouse suite reserved, thinking, you know, more people would be able to be here, and she’s kind of bummed it’s empty. She’d actually love it if you came to hang with us. Invite your friends! You can all stay the night, there’s plenty of room! Bring an overnight bag if you want._

_Max: I’m gonna send a cab. I’ll forward you the info_. 

“So,” Michael said, “According to Max, we’re staying in a penthouse suite tonight. Is that cool or should I tell him to shove his consumption someplace extremely conspicuous?”

Alex pursed his lips at Maria. "Free hotel?"

"I can deal with your sister for one evening at that price," Maria said, going through her closet. "But maybe I should go for the Dior if they're gonna be like that. Alex, wear your nice boots!"

Alex sighed, humoring her. "Yes, dear!"

Michael dashed off their acceptance to Max and got an excited thumbs up immediately in return, as if Max had been waiting by the comm for him. Michael rubbed the back of his head. How was he supposed to feel about that? Because he mostly felt...confused. On the verge of ruining...something.

“Isobel isn’t that bad. You just met her!” Alex said, fishing his other boot out of the back of her closet.

And she felt on him what he was really saying—his fear that Michael might choose his family over them, that they were just a means to an end to get him here, that Michael would leave again.

“You don’t get to pick your in-laws, I know,” Maria said, trying out a silver dress that was extremely low-cut and required a lot of adjusting. After being so long in space gravity, her boobs did not like being in a bra again, much less a strapless one. “How’s this?” 

“Why don’t you wear the purple shirt?” Alex suggested. The ship was quickly becoming a disaster zone of shoes and clothes all over the floor. “I’ve seen women, gay men, and pirates literally try to kill you for it.” 

He beckoned Michael over to him, offering a few pairs of jeans nicer than Michael’s own. “What size jeans do you wear? If you tuck them into boots it wouldn’t show if they’re too short.” 

Alex was quieter about it, but he was not going to allow anyone, long-lost sibling or no, to insinuate that they weren’t keeping Michael well. 

“Might need a belt, but they oughtta fit,” Michael said. “You trying to tell me that my vast and expensive wardrobe isn’t up to snuff?” He waggled his ankle at them, showing off the frayed cuff of his jeans. He’d already changed into his new shirt, a fresh, deep green that played beautifully off the gold in his skin, hair, and eyes.

“I don’t know. What angle are we going for with these people? Fine without them, or poor orphan Mikey fishing for handouts from his obviously loaded family members? I’d say don’t wear the new shirt if we’re going for the latter.” 

Michael’s anger was bright and hot but flamed out quick. “Charity ain’t really my style,” he said, dropping the pair of Alex’s jeans he’d been thumbing.

“ _Hey_ ,” Alex said lowly, taking Michael’s hands. “From _me_ , it’s not charity. I want to take care of you so that _they_ don’t think they have to.” 

Alex kissed Michael’s cheek, and then shifted uncertainly. “We made it a joke before, but, ah, it may turn out _we’re_ gonna need some reassurances after tonight. You know, not that we’d blame you if you wanted to go live with them, or—or whatever—”

Here Alex turned away, bending down to pick up the jeans. 

“No!” Michael blurted, grabbing Alex’s wrist to keep him from stooping. The pants lifted up and folded themselves neatly on the bed, and Michael slid his hand into Alex’s, tangling their fingers together. “Look, all I’ve wanted my entire life is a family. I thought Max and Isobel were my only chance; I thought even they wouldn’t want me. But now I’ve got you two, and...I think I know what family _means_ now. I never knew that when I thought of them.”

“Well,” Alex said, mostly comforted by that. “You should have had it all along, but. I’m telling your siblings if they get huffy that we have the prior claim.”

“Hey, Michael! Alex!” Maria called.

She had given up on clothes, apparently, and was sitting in a bathrobe reading. “Okay, okay! Look. Here’s instructions, and these make way more sense than—”

“Instructions for what, Maria?” 

“Remember how one day I started being able to connect with your thoughts, like, on accident?” Maria said to Alex. She handed them her datapad so they could see what she’d been reading. “There’s a whole section here on the psychology of unconscious intimate bonds. It’s not, like, an instruction manual, but maybe it could help…?”

She looked hopefully between Michael and Alex. “Um. We could try it, now, if—if you want. No rush. If it doesn’t work, you know, we can take more time later, ask your sister, try therapy, or whatever. I just figured…” 

Michael and Alex looked at each other, and when Alex squeezed Michael’s hand, Michael squeezed back.

“I want to try,” Michael said. “I don’t know what I’m doing, but…”

“Well, lucky for you, unconscious is the name of the game, so you don’t have to know what you’re doing,” Maria said, tucking a curl behind his ear. “The book says that unconscious bonds are less likely to form with non-telepathic individuals, but if the individuals are compatible nonetheless, the bond may form if both allow themselves to be open to it.”

Maria had been frantically reading, not wanting to give the “normal” Antarans the satisfaction of knowing so much more about her than she did, and had absorbed a lot of information very quickly. 

Alex’s brow creased. “I don’t see how we can just _try_ at something that’s supposed to be unconscious. Or is knocking us out part of your master plan? I know! You want to hang out with Isobel all by yourself!”

“ _No,_ c’mon.” She beckoned them both over to sit on the side of the bed. “What I’m saying is that I think you guys might have already bonded and you just don’t know it—that the bond is _there_ and just not active because you’re not aware of it like Michael and I, and Alex and I, are aware of ours.”

“So what should we do?” Michael asked. His eyes were huge.

“Just...sit here. Hold on to each other,” She squeezed their hands together and moved away. “I’m going to close off our side of the bond, okay? Don’t worry, I’m right here. I’ll be right here. Just cutting out some of the noise.”

She kissed Michael’s forehead, then Alex’s, then shuffled away down the bed. Michael whimpered when he felt her presence pull away, and Alex stroked his temples—both their eyes fell shut as their foreheads fell together. 

They drew in a breath in unison. Michael’s hair curled fine and soft against the tips of Alex’s fingers. Alex’s breath fanned across Michael’s face as he exhaled. Michael’s heart rabbited in his chest at how far and quiet Maria had become, but he forced himself to settle through it, calming himself, centering himself on the feeling of Alex right at his side.

_Michael?_

Michael couldn’t _hear_ him, exactly, but he felt—something, felt the brush of Alex’s mind as subtle as the weight of clothes against skin, and he sucked in a sharp gasp as he reached for that thread and clutched it tight.

“Alex,” he breathed aloud.

“Is it working?” Alex asked. _Can you hear me thinking about eating real animal product tonight? Maybe steak?_

Alex, of course, couldn’t exactly detect the telepathic bond himself. Maria could push her thoughts into his mind, and she could receive surface thoughts or moods from him, but he wasn’t always aware it was working. Just like expressing his feelings. He kind of had to hope and trust that they would be received. _He_ was the Vulcan on this ship after all. They were the Betazoids. Not that that was an accurate comparison, of course, because Vulcans could mind-meld, which would honestly be so much easier…

“He thinks about _Star Trek_ a lot,” Maria said. “Get used to it.” 

“I’ve never seen _Star Trek,_ ” Michael said dreamily. He kept running mental fingers over and over the bond he could just barely feel. “What’s a Betazoid?”

“Well now you’ve done it,” Maria said, as Alex gathered Michael into his arms, pulled him into his lap, and kissed him. The boys were warm and giggling as she tackled them to the bed, solidifying the bonds between them. 

Even Alex _felt_ something at this. 

Michael hitched his knee up and wrapped a leg around Alex’s hip, hand sliding down to cup his lower back as he deepened the kiss, letting out a soft moan when Alex nipped his lower lip to gain entry. 

“What time is it?” Maria asked. Her fingers were already wandering up beneath the hem of Michael’s shirt, though. They could be a little late.

“Wouldn’t want your siblings to question the nature of our relationship, would we?” Alex hummed, sliding Michael’s pants down. He wasn’t going to be wearing these pants, anyway. 

“Mm, I’m gonna mark you up. And your hair is going to be perfect,” Maria growled, possessiveness rippling across their mental connection and tingling down Michael’s spine. 

Alex laughed and rolled Michael over while Maria pulled him down on top of her. Her robe fell open, revealing her nakedness underneath. Alex just laughed again, burying his face in the back of Michael’s neck. “You wanna get him slick for me, Maria?” 

“You better show Alex a good time while I’m working on you, baby,” Maria instructed, arms and legs going around Michael and Alex both while her slimmest and slickest tentacles started teasing Michael open. 

Michael hummed, pressing back into her tentacles, into the warmth and weight of Alex’s chest against his back. He turned his head as much as he could to kiss Alex, then spoke against his mouth.

“I‘ll do anything—how do you want me?”

“Just like this,” Alex’s laugh turned into a growl, while he actually licked Michael’s neck and jaw. _You smell like rain. I don’t want you to shower_. “Never been with a guy who can fuck me while I’m fucking him. It’s a trip.”

It was Maria’s turn to laugh as she passed him a condom. “ _While_ he’s fucking his girlfriend at the same time. What do you say to both of us fucking him at once?” 

“When we have more time to open him up,” Alex said, nudging tentacles out of the way so he could first fingerfuck Michael and then slowly feed his cock into his unresisting body. Michael moaned softly, head hanging between his shoulders, and Maria gripped his hair, angling his head to kiss him. Maria’s evicted tentacles curled around Michael’s thighs immediately, as though spreading him open for him. Michael’s tendrils continued their gentle teasing of Alex, open just enough to massage his prostate. 

“You’re no fun.” 

Alex grunted softly and began to move. “You have no appreciation for an _actual_ quickie, DeLuca.” 

“Good thing he’s got a mouth,” Maria said, kissing said mouth. All four of her tentacles were already winding around his hips, teasing where Alex was fucking him, and slithering up his body to tease his wet mouth and wrap around his biceps. Quickie or not, she was all in. She rolled a condom onto him and rocked up as he sank inside her, and she let her head fall back and sighed out her approval. “Mm, Alex is right. You smell so good, babe.” 

Michael’s hips rolled into Alex’s thrusts; he lost himself so quickly to pleasure, eyes closed, mouth open.

“Be careful of his shirt,” Maria said with a laugh, and Alex pushed it up to splay his hands against the bare skin of his back.

And mentally, Michael opened himself up _all_ the way, as best he could, hoping they could feel his happiness. 

They both moaned loudly and rocked their hips, indicating that they had. Maria used her tentacles to gently remove Michael’s shirt so she could ravage him properly. If her tentacles wanted to fuck his mouth they were going to have to wait until she was done kissing him. 

He mostly fucked her at the pace Alex was fucking him, which was fine, great, even (though she didn’t like telling her gay best friend that he was a good lay, even by proxy), and his secondary tentacles were paying very close attention to her clit, making her gasp and whine her way to an orgasm, her body clenching and tightening around Michael until he could barely move. 

“Don’t worry,” Alex told the vaguely distressed Michael, dick still hard but buried inside her and unable to move, “I’ll make sure you come.” 

It didn’t take long, both Michael and Maria’s tentacles looping the three of them together, sliding and squeezing each other, binding them, as Alex fucked Michael into coming, head tossed back and moaning, and Alex finished himself off too, using Michael’s body until he spent. As they all lay panting in the extremely brief afterglow—it was getting close to 5:30, the cab would be here any minute—Michael used his TK to take care of both condoms and fetch a washcloth from the bathroom.

“Okay, I’m relaxed now,” he said, kissing Maria’s sternum.

"Me, too," Maria said. 

"We _definitely_ don't have time to shower," Alex laughed, triumphant.


	8. Chapter 8

Isobel stood when she saw them enter the bar, running a few feet, even, to wrap Michael up in a hug. 

“I should be the one congratulating you,” he said sheepishly. “It’s your big day, right? I just crashed the party.”

“The best congratulatory present I could ever hope for, I think you mean,” Isobel said, as Max got up to shake Alex’s hand and push Maria’s seat in for her. “After that exam today, I genuinely don’t want to talk about school or me, anyway—”

“Also she’s about two drinks in, already,” Max said, obviously nursing a sparkling water of some kind. “Can I get you folks anything special? Cocktails, wine?” 

“I think I’ll just have…a soda water,” Alex said, eyeing Max’s drink. 

“Whatever you like, but spare no expense—you brought us our brother back, this is a huge celebration.” 

Alex chuckled. “Okay...a vodka and soda water, then.” 

“So you guys are freelancers? How  _ thrilling, _ ” Isobel said, propping her chin on her hand. “How many times have you run into pirates in the past year; don’t hold back. No, wait, how long have you three been together? I want to know about that instead. Maria, you must have what I’m drinking—Michael, you, too, it’s the best drink in the house. Max, get us two more Purple People Eaters!”

“Only if you promise to let them talk,” Max said, squeezing his sister’s shoulder as he headed to the bar. 

“These two have been friends and co-captains for a long time,” Michael said. “Then one day they picked me up and decided this train ran better with three wheels, what do you know?”

“That’s so sweet,” Isobel said, but in an encouraging way, like she was expecting him to keep talking. When Michael didn’t, her smile got just a little plastic. for a moment. “And before then? How long have you three been together?” 

“Ooh, gosh, a few months?” Maria said, looking to Alex for backup “Almost a year?” 

That was generous, but Alex shrugged. “However long it’s been, not long enough. Your brother is probably the best thing to happen to us.” 

And if Isobel detected a hint of a lie in the first part, the second part was complete truth. 

“Here are those drinks!” Max said, doing an expert three-drink carry in his huge hands. “What’d I miss?” 

“Michael was just about to tell us where he was before Maria and Alex met up with him.” 

“All over the place. Freelancing is practically standing still for me. I’ve gone domestic.” He winked over the rim of his glass at Maria and Alex. “Engine room gigs, mechanics, that sort of thing. Good with my hands, and machines don’t care how much you back talk ‘em.”

“It looks like Maria and Alex don’t, either,” Max chuckled, and sensed that a change of subject might lighten the mood. “How do you like the drinks? I can order you something else.” 

Maria tried hers to be polite, but the bartender knew their drinks, apparently, because this was lovely. It tasted vaguely like purple but without being cloying. Michael was sucking his down, so he obviously didn’t hate it, either. “Ooh, that is nice. Alex, try this.” 

The conversation turned to Alex and Maria’s friendship with Liz, Max’s relationship with her, and their recent jobs and Michael’s upgrades to the ship, before they ordered dinner. 

“Her ex-boyfriend is like, one of my best friends,” Max added with a faint blush. 

Isobel jogged him. “He’s thinking of asking him out, too.” 

“What’s Liz’s reaction going to be?” 

“I mean, if you’re dating an Antaran,” Isobel huffed, like this was common knowledge. 

Maria, Alex, and Michael must have paused long enough for that to be a red flag. 

“You know, that  _ there’s got to be three _ , or whatever,” Isobel said. “You’ve never heard that saying?” 

Max leaned in, as though with a sneaking suspicion, “You did, uh, know some Antarans growing up, right?” He turned to Maria. “Your—parent?” 

Maria shrugged, trying not to bristle. Isobel hadn’t annoyed her tonight yet, and had even complimented her on her purple shirt, but she was still prepared to be irritated. “Died before I was born, in the Wars. My human mother raised me. I think I went to one Antaran doctor...once? Mostly for the sex talk. Which, ah, probably wasn’t adequate, I think I’m finding.” 

“And hey, it’s a big galaxy. Not a whole lot of Antarans on the kind of ships I was on, believe it or not. We’re just a trio of lone wolves,” Michael said dramatically, leaning over to kiss Maria’s cheek as he squeezed Alex’s knee.

Max was looking increasingly alarmed, and Isobel chewed on her lip as she watched Michael. 

“Maybe this isn’t the best conversation to have over dinner the first day you meet?” Alex suggested, covering Michael’s hand with his and giving him a reassuring squeeze.

"I mean, I guess not," Isobel said, now torn between looking impressed and concerned. "But you had— _ people _ , right? Friends?" she asked Michael. "Before them?"

When Michael didn’t answer immediately she balked. “How did you figure out telepathy on your own?” 

“I figured it out on my own,” Maria said, half defensive, half deflecting. “Is it hard?” 

“I don’t know if I’d say  _ hard… _ ” Max said, looking to Isobel, then continuing, “I’m sorry, I don’t want to be offensive, it’s just, Antarans need a lot of companionship with other telepathic people. We were adopted by humans, but they were able to make sure we had that, and the thought of being so isolated is...it’s…”

Michael drummed his fingers on the tabletop. “Yeah, well, a lot of kids in this galaxy need things they don’t get.”

Alex and Maria both put a hand on him, summoned as instinctively as a mother to an infant’s cry. 

If anything, Isobel and Max looked  _ more  _ impressed, watching Maria’s and Alex’s hands. Isobel was the first to shake herself and recover, seeming suddenly softer, perhaps more genuine, knowing she didn’t have to perform for them, and that it would be better if she didn’t. 

“So...this doctor, Maria. He taught you to connect with—”

“No. I figured that out. With—only with Alex, my mother, and now Michael. Back on Earth I’d do, like, psychic readings, so I’d sort of get a read on strangers, sometimes. Mostly a hustle, but, uh, I was pretty good at it.” Maria shrugged, not really liking that she was the center of attention, but glad to take the focus off Michael. 

Isobel leaned back and even had a smile for Maria. “Well, I’m impressed. You’re pretty strong. And I’m glad the three of you found each other.”

“Right,” Max added. He held up his drink and clinked it against Michael’s. “To both of us, lucky bastards that we are.”

Michael didn’t quite know what to make of that, but he knocked back Max’s toast anyway.

Later, Isobel cornered Maria in the restroom, respect and concern all over her.

“Seriously, you could have died doing that for him,” Isobel said.

“Doing...look, just because I don’t  _ know  _ all this stuff,” Maria said; not antagonistic, but definitely frustrated. “Michael deserves better than he got—and apparently, I do, too. So, where do we go from here? I guess, doing it the ‘right’ way?” 

“As curious and nosy as I am, I do have  _ some  _ respect for your privacy, so I don’t know the exact nature of your bond or what you could have done right or wrong,” Isobel said, leaning against the wall. “I can just tell that his psychic powers are weak and that he went into psychoemotive shock recently—that kind of thing leaves scars. And the bond between the three of you is, I suspect, similar to the treatment for that kind of shock, where willing participants bond to a suffering Antaran to help their mindscape regain healthy parameters.”

Maria considered this. "I mean, it  _ hurt _ , when we reconnected. I just thought it was because he was hurt."

Isobel clicked her tongue. “You should get a checkup. I’ll refer you to someone before you leave Skain. But seriously— _ thank you.  _ I know we don’t know each other, but you’re doing something huge and amazing for him. Thank you.”

Maria took the compliment, even willingly, and nodded. “I mean, I’m not doing it for you. He’s wonderful. We, uh—we kinda figured you’d...I don’t know, that you’d take him away from us, when we heard about you. Heard you’re  _ Royalty… _ ” 

“I won’t lie, part of me wants to. For the longest time, we really thought he was...you know. Dead. We blamed ourselves for him being left behind; even when we could barely remember him, we missed him, you know? Part of me wants to stop at nothing to be a family again. But I know logically that, now that we’ve been reunited, we  _ can  _ have it both ways. I can be pretty territorial though.” Isobel grinned sharply. “You should have seen me when Max first met Liz.”

“Well, if you try to be juvenile, I’ll argue the prior claim,” Maria said, but she was gentle this time. 

“What, like finder’s keepers?” Isobel smirked. “As long as I get visitation rights.” 

“I think he’s a free man, who can go where he pleases,” Maria laughed. “I hope he stays with us, but…” 

“That’s right, you don’t know about the Rule of Three, do you? Or the—ugh, please don’t hate me for this—the...mating bond?”

“The  _ what _ ?!” 

Isobel groaned. “I  _ know,  _ okay? The term sucks but I promise it’s nothing weird, there just isn’t a word that works for it outside of Antar. Anyway, it’s not something best explained in the commode, so why don’t you let me give you my friend’s contact info? She’s a great Antaran-interspecies family counselor, she can tell you what you need to know.” Isobel jotted a comm number onto a paper towel and shoved it at Maria. “Now let’s get back to the table before my long lost brother thinks I’m luring you away with my princessly wiles.”

“I am the mercenary in our little group, so there’s a nonzero chance…” Maria suggested, taking the number and folding it carefully around her communicator inside her purse. Her head still reeling with ‘Rule of Three’ and and ‘Mating Bond’ bullshit, she shook her head and let her mind be cleared by the jingle of her largest and most expensive-looking posturing earrings. 

“Thought you fell in,” Alex commented, and Max laughed. Max and Alex appeared to be getting on like a house on fire, once they settled on their mutual love of science-fiction novels. 

“We just wanted to get away from how much you all smell,” Isobel said haughtily, turning up her tiny, already turned up nose. Maria laughed at this, and she could also feel how Michael relaxed upon her return—or maybe Isobel’s—no, definitely hers. Either way, he was relaxed and well-fed and just a little bit drunk, maybe. 

“You guys want dessert?” Max asked, like he didn’t want the evening to end. 

Maria was already looking for the wildest thing on the menu, comparing notes with Alex. 

“How long are you guys planning to stay on Skain?” Isobel said.

Michael shrugged. He was staying out of the dessert conversation; whatever Alex and Maria ordered, he’d just steal a few bites of. “Depends how long you two will be here, I guess? Do you have to get back to New Roswell, Max? And I wasn’t sure if you lived here or if you’d be headed somewhere else after getting certified. Plus we’ve got a few jobs lined up on the moons, but I’m not in charge of all that, just makin’ sure the  _ Pony  _ gets there.”

"Yeah, I'm just here for a few days, need to get back to Liz and Kyle," Max said. "Maybe we can all meet up back in New Roswell in a few cycles?"

"I have a lease here for a few months," Isobel said, "so you have a place to stay while you're in town seeing the specialists or doing repairs or whatever."

Maria nodded, glancing at Michael, though these were just as much for her, she supposed. "Yeah, we have a few local jobs. Day jobs, deliveries and things…."

"You can't want to stay in the ship the whole time! My place has plenty of room if you want to stay there," Isobel insisted. 

Sensing Maria’s indignation on the  _ Pony’s  _ behalf, Michael said, “The ship’s not so bad.”

“We appreciate the offer; we may take you up on that,” Alex added.

Dessert came, but by the end of it everyone was close to nodding off into their empty glasses. It was a long day for everyone, from revelation to exam to revelation, but neither Max, Isobel, nor Michael were willing to split, as if the second they turned their backs the others would disappear.

“Offer still good on this fancy penthouse for the night?” Maria asked, drunk enough for her straight-shooting to be slightly more permissible. “I mean, if the in-laws are royalty, I’m gonna take advantage.” 

“DeLuca, oh, my God,” Alex said, just drunk enough to admit to being  _ embarrassed _ . 

“Yep, yep, yep,” Isobel said, definitely drunk enough not to care. “We’re just upstairs. We can order more drinks, some strippers, hear all the dirty secrets…” 

“Let’s try water, some music, and a bit of quiet conversation,” Max suggested, taking Isobel by the elbow with a sheepish grin at the rest of them. “You really are still welcome. There’s enough bedrooms if you all wanted your own, or the big king bed. There’s a pool…” 

“A pool?!” 

“Well, a hot tub.” Max lowered his voice as Isobel led the way to the huge elevators in the back of the restaurant. He was so earnest and so sweet that Maria and Alex even forgot to at least make an attempt on the check. “Like I said, we were expecting more people. It’s great you guys are here. This is  _ way  _ better than the original crowd, though; you being here really made the night special for Isobel. Thank you.” 

“What happened to the original crowd?” Michael asked. Isobel leaned against the wall next to the elevators like she was in danger of collapsing, even though she hadn’t had much more to drink than the rest of them. Michael didn’t know much about her tolerance, but still. 

"Oh our parents are  _ always  _ too busy," Isobel said, and then covered her mouth. It definitely wasn't fair to bitch about one's distant but loving parents to someone who didn't have parents or even, like, a home. "Anyway, they're boring. Liz is a good time, when she can be pulled away from her work. Kyle, same thing. Max has a type," she stage whispered loudly. “Workaholics.”

Max shrugged and smiled, not putting up the slightest fight.

“They would have been here, Iz, but Liz’s study is finally getting off the ground.”

“I  _ knowwww.  _ I’ll impose myself on you all some other time. More certification celebrations for meee!”

When they finally got on the elevator, Isobel clung to Michael’s side like she needed his help to stand. He didn’t need telepathy to tell it was an act, but he didn’t call her on it, either.

“You realize you have to like call and visit and stay in touch now, right,” she said, jabbing her finger into his ribs. “You don’t get to disappear into the black again.”

“You have my comm info as well as the  _ Pony’s,”  _ Michael assured her. “I don’t want to disappear, okay?”

Isobel really smiled at him then, and Maria and Alex decided they had to respect anyone who loved Michael as much as his siblings obviously did. 


	9. Chapter 9

They had a blast that evening, and all the next day, and after a few more awkward conversations and calling psychotherapists and doctors, they even got a regimen of appointments set up—mostly for Michael, but some for Maria, as well, and even a session for all three of them. 

Maria and Michael bounced out of their first session together really  _ hearing  _ each other loud and clear, feeling everything, and really wanting to hold hands and maybe have sex and definitely, definitely they felt their mutual longing for—

“Alex!” Maria spotted him first, waving and jumping. Alex had kept himself busy with a bit of light reading and a beer at a bistro across from the medical offices and was right where they left him. They had learned so much about themselves and their mental abilities, all baby stuff, probably, but it was new to  _ them _ , and they couldn’t wait to share it with their partner. 

Alex stood to meet them, only to be swept up as Michael bounded over and caught him in a hug, almost twirling him.

“Hey!” Alex laughed, then, softer, hand coming up to twine with the curls on the back of Michael’s neck, “Hey.”

“Hey,” Michael replied, all smiles.

“So I take it the appointment went well?”

“Mmhm. The doctor warned us this might happen as we both started stretching our telepathic muscles more. Positive feedback loop.” Michael laid his head on Alex’s shoulder and let out a blissful, dreamy sigh.

“I hope there’s not a crash afterwards,” Alex said, bemused, as Maria leaned in for a hug, too. “Like subdrop, or having too much sugar.” 

“I mean, if this guy panics and severs the bond again at this point we might actually go into shock and die, so, no pressure,” Maria teased, pinching Michael’s butt. 

Alex laughed in surprised alarm. “Right. No pressure, then.”

He kissed Michael, and then Maria. “You guys hungry? Or…?” 

_ Horny? _ Maria thought at both of them at the same time. 

“Yeah, that one,” Michael said, grabbing Alex’s hand and pulling him along as they hurried back to the apartment.

…

Isobel wasn’t in, so there was nothing to divert them as they stumbled into the apartment and then into the bedroom they were sharing.

Maria laughed as Michael pulled Alex into another kiss, and then another, until she grabbed the back of Michael's shirt and yanked him in for kisses of her own. Alex sat down on the edge of the bed and watched them with faint amusement and accepted his lapful of happy alien when Maria released him again. 

"Did you know we're perfect?" Michael crooned. 

"What?" 

Maria giggled again. "The doctor was quick to tell us it's just an old wives' tale, but apparently according to Antaran tradition, triads are lucky.”

She pushed Michael and Alex down onto the bed and climbed on top of them. Maybe she wasn’t horny so much as she wanted to cuddle, and if that turned into lazy sex, great, and if not, fine, but she wasn’t letting either of them out of this bed for a while. 

“Something to do with it being the ideal family unit,” she went on, kissing the back of Michael’s neck and pulling his hair gently. 

Alex huffed. “I’m glad it’s not a weird religious thing, I guess. Unless it is and that was insensitive.” 

“Nah, the Doc definitely thought it was outdated bullshit,” Michael said. “Whoof, I think the buzz is starting to wear off. No crash, though. I could get used to this. Maybe doctors aren’t so bad after all.”

Alex really laughed at that. "You guys tease me like  _ that _ and leave me with a half-chubby?"

Maria rolled off of Michael and onto her back. "Well, we can always let Michael go down on us and then just cuddle…"

“Oh?” Michael walked his fingers up Maria’s thigh, and she threw her leg over his to trap his hand between her legs.

“The connection’s so good, I wonder if you’ll feel it, too, hm?” Maria asked, closing her eyes and flicking open the button of her jeans. She was wearing trousers, a rarity for her, and something she regretted now. 

Alex hummed, trying to let praise and delight sit at the top of his mind, for Michael and Maria to scoop up. He wasn’t sure it helped much, from his end, but it felt good to do it. 

Michael kissed down in between each of her girdle ridges until he reached just below her belly button as he helped inch her pants down her hips, taking her underwear with them.

“I can feel you both so well already; you’re trying to kill me,” he said. “I’ve never felt Alex like this, it’s—mm, fuck,” he ended on a groan when Maria yanked his hair to move him into place.

"Well, if you focus, you can," she encouraged. 

Alex took Michael’s hand, linked their fingers, and then shoved Michael’s hand down his pants. “That’s right, Michael. Focus. Show me what you can do.” 

Alex was impressed by very little, in the scheme of things. But that didn’t mean he wasn’t affected when Michael started massaging his half-hard cock through the thin, soft fabric of his underwear, and when he rolled his head onto Maria’s knee and moaned softly, other hand going down to grip himself through his own pants.

“Nuh-uh,” Maria purred. She tugged his hair and pulled his hand into hers. “No touching. You feel it through us.” 

Alex huffed, breath hitching as Michael’s fingers tightened around him. Alex was the heart of a ship and Michael was just tinkering with him. “Yeah. I—I’m feeling a  _ lot  _ right now.” 

Michael moaned again and took his hand away from himself, fisting it on his thigh until temptation got too much and he moved it to rest on Maria’s thigh, kissing her skin between his fingers.

“Love you,” he said out loud, while in his head he tried to surround them, hold them with his love, warm and safe like a weighted blanket. 

_ I can feel you, _ Maria said. 

“We can feel you,” Alex said. “Love you, too, but—” 

A laugh burst out of him, and Maria giggled, too. 

“But put that mouth to work!” she shrieked, tugging her pants down all the way and curling a leg around Michael’s neck. “Or Alex won’t last.” 

“I’m perfectly fine not lasting,” Alex said, breath hitching as he laughed. 

Michael worked his hand into Alex’s underwear to touch skin, at the same time he drew the tip of his nose up Maria’s inner thigh, teasing her with that faint point of sensation right up until the point where he parted her and dragged his tongue across her pussy, making her hiss, making her leg tighten around him as he started up light, quick strokes against her opening, then up against her clit.

“Yes, finally,” Maria gasped, throwing her head back and giving in to the sensations. She fed that goodness back to him, the teasing ratcheting up to bone-deep pleasure very quickly. 

Alex lay beside her, Michael’s fingers working him to a quick completion. Wrecked as he was already, he said, “God, Michael, God. Can you feel this? Can you feel me?” 

He could, he could feel them both, a cyclone of pleasure and desire and happiness, inside, outside, he trembled with the force of it, he licked Maria until her nails dug into his shoulders and she came, and then he turned on Alex and yanked his pants down to get the most space possible to finish him off, And Alex jerked himself off until he came all over Michael’s face.

And then Michael was blinking up at him, covered in both of them,  _ theirs,  _ eyes golden and dilated, skin flushed, chest heaving, tentacles reaching out to loop around both of them, winding between their legs and anywhere else he could reach. Had he come, too? 

Alex's eyes shone as he looked down at Michael, wrecked like this. It made him want to take care of him, keep him, make sure he looked and felt like this always. 

"Gorgeous, baby," Maria said, her tentacles crawling all over Michael’s body and hauling him up between them. She swiped her fingers through the come streaked across his face and pushed it into his mouth before kissing him. "You're getting better at that."

"He's getting better at reading our minds," Alex said, still panting, rolling over to bracket Michael between them, kissing his hair, smelling that rain-smell on his skin. "So, yeah."

Maria hummed as she found all three sets of Michael's tentacles out and clinging, without any coaxing. She helped them curl around her and Alex. "Look at you. I love you. I'm so proud of you."

Michael floated a wet cloth over, and Alex used it to gently wash his face off before tossing it to the side to be cleaned up later. The three of them fell back into bed, all twined together, with Michael happily buzzing in the middle of them and his two lovers curled into his sides. Maria reached into his trousers to curl a hand around Michael’s cock while Alex held him. 

“So how do we want to spend the rest of the day?” Alex asked, rubbing his hand through Michael’s chest hair. “We’ve got the place to ourselves, after all.”

Maria’s stomach rumbled, offering one suggestion. “We could use Isobel’s huge kitchen and cook together. Have some nice leftovers for when she gets back.” 

“Not right away, though,” Alex said, thumbing over the tentacles wound around his thighs, making Michael squirm. “What else did you guys learn about today in Antaran School?” 

He had read one or two interesting things himself, actually. 

“Mostly we practiced some meditations that are supposed to help open the mind and manage tangled emotional connections. Most Antarans are connected on some level to a lot of people, but it’s not supposed to be a noisy thing.”

“A lot of it was probably kindergarten stuff, but what do I know? I never went to a kindergarten,” Michael added. His eyes drooped, slow and sleepy and sated, even on the edge and teased like this. It was so warm in the bed with all three of them, and as long as they kept touching him, he wasn’t in any hurry. 

“Did you look through the books any more?” Maria asked.

“Yeah, I just wanted to see if there is anything I can do. Didn’t look like me not being telepathic was going to be a problem, I just don’t want to hold you—us—back.” Alex grinned a little wryly, “You know, for this  _ Mating Bond _ .” 

They all giggled at how stupid that sounded. Maria affected a deep, manly voice as she braced her hands on Michaels shoulder. “Hey, baby. Wanna mate?”

“Gross,” Michael groaned, even though he was still grinning. It was a stupid, unsexy word, but it still lit up his chest with a tiny, bright candle flame. He hadn’t told them yet about the other book he’d bought, the one about Antaran parenting, but he would. Someday. 

“God, it’s even worse as a verb,” Alex said. “If you say it again I’m leaving you two to each other, humans don’t have to put up with this nonsense.”

If he’d said it any sooner it would have stabbed straight into Michael’s heart and stayed there, barbed and stuck, tearing him apart from inside. But now he breathed through the initial bolt of fear, the brain-scrambling search for what he did wrong, how to make himself small until it blew over. He picked up on Alex’s languid stillness as he didn’t move at all except to keep stroking Michael’s chest. It was just a joke.

“Mm, you love it,” he said, still reaching for that verbal confirmation.

“I do,” Alex said, kissing Michael’s cheek and teasing his tentacles some more. “And since I can’t possibly escape at this moment, I guess I’m stuck with you two forever.” 

“I’d much prefer ‘Fucking Bond’ or ‘Marriage Bond,’ even if neither is strictly correct,” Maria said. She eased Michael with her mind and her touch, noticing the spike of panic, though she also felt how he kept it under control. Still, it was hard to break those habits, so she was gentle with him. She kissed him and let her tentacles do the teasing, making Michael too horny to be worried. “But if you’ve never heard a human say ‘Wanna mate?’ then you don’t know enough straight men, Alexander.” 

“And I wear that as a badge of honor,” Alex said. 

A quiet moment passed, punctuated only by Michael’s gasps as she fucked and stimulated him with her tentacles and finally brought him release, too. It felt as good for Maria, and sounded as good for Alex, as it seemed to feel for Michael. 

There were so many things they could be doing with all this free time, but the bed was comfortable, the three of them so comfortable, that spending a few more minutes just holding each other felt like the best way to use it.

Then Michael said, “That, uh, that kind of bond, though, it’s something you guys...would want? With me?”

" _ Yes _ ," Maria and Alex said together, with a fond but loud exasperation. Feeding off each other's annoyance and delight in equal measure, they laughed. 

"And we'll tell you every day until you believe it," Maria said, giving up. 

"Speak for yourself, I have, like, a maximum quota for talking about feelings. You better get good at that mind reading," Alex teased. "Come on, if we're gonna stay in bed longer I'm gonna want to fuck you, so let's get up. I'm hungry."

“You mean you don’t want to fuck me when I’m in the kitchen?” Michael said, sliding away from Alex’s hands to pull on a pair of shorts.

"We can explore that option," Maria said, her tentacles still tingling. Reluctantly, she got up, too, pulling on a skirt this time because pants were oppressive. "And the mating bond doesn't sound like it's a big ordeal. Like, it is a big deal, but it's a pretty easy meditation. I suppose if we're going to get legally married we'll need to invite my mom and the Ortechos."

"We can video call my brother in from SecureMax," Alex joked. "I suppose I should let Greg know, though." 

"And of course Max and Isobel," Maria finished, following Michael to the kitchen and taking the very important first step of getting drinks for everyone: wine for Alex, beer for Michael, a whiskey for her. "But that's just for the wedding. I guess the bond is like eloping. My mother might be impressed."

Michael blinked. “You guys have really thought about this. I didn’t…”

He didn’t know what to say. It was one thing to say out loud that they might want that kind of bond some day, but it was another thing entirely to already know how you’d start planning it. Humbled, he snagged Alex as he went for a snack, resting their foreheads together for a tender moment, and then he went to Maria for the same.

"If it meant we'd get to keep you, I'd bond with you right now," Maria said. "And I mean both of you."

Still holding Michael, Maria reached out to Alex and held his hand. They were more than just buddies or bros, and they didn't need to go through it again. For their entire lives, possibly still, they were the only person that made the other feel perfectly and entirely safe. And Michael was their shared one desire, the only power in the universe that could bring them even closer together. 

"Of course. You and me are a done deal, DeLuca." Alex even kissed her hand. 

"Good, I want that sweet sweet Captain's pension if you die before me."

Michael interrupted the moment:

“Anybody want to help me chop things, or am I on my own?” he asked, head in the fridge. He’d only seen a lot of these vegetables, not cooked them himself, but most of Isobel’s spices were familiar, and what vegetable didn’t taste good roasted with a little oil and spice?

Michael had good instincts in the kitchen, so Maria and Alex were glad to follow his lead. 

“Don’t give her a knife,” Alex said, by way of offering to chop. 

Maria gave an indignant gasp, but Michael laughed. 

After a moment, though, it got him thinking, and as he cut, he asked, “Have you two ever had to fight on a job? Alex, I know you were in the military, but after. I guess I hadn’t thought about the dangers…”

“Oh, all the time,” Maria boasted, though Michael felt her mind feint away from his minutely. “We get marauders trying to board us and steal our shit on the regular.” 

“Not  _ all  _ the time,” Alex said, rolling his eyes. “We get hassled sometimes, if we land on planets with bigots or whatever. I’ve had to punch a creep or two in a bar. Maria goes for the nuts. We only had the one job ever go really bad.” 

“We thought we were taking a kid off to boarding school. Turned out the family was mafia, and some other mafiosos tried to kidnap the kid on our watch,” Maria said, her jaw setting. She seemed about to stop there, and then blurted out, “First time I killed a guy.” 

“ _ Only _ time you killed a guy.” 

There was a beat, and when Michael didn’t react, Maria put a hand on her hip. “Okay, that was a big deal for  _ me _ . Now I’m worried about both of you.”

“Basically, once she decides to protect someone, she turns into a Mama Bear,” Alex said, wrapping his arms around Maria from behind. 

A nerve-pinching not-pain quivered across Maria’s mindscape, like foil between teeth. But at the same time, it was pure bliss knowing what he needed to do. How did anyone else live without this?

Putting his knife aside, he walked around the counter to join the hug. “You’re right. I’m sorry you had to do that.”

Maria shrugged like it was nothing, but leaned into him like it was. Alex had the weight of many deaths on him. In some ways, that got easier. 

Next time that happened, Michael would be there, and she wouldn’t have to do that. Neither of them would, because Michael would always take that burden for them. Not because they couldn’t handle it, but...well. He tucked that feeling away from the bond anyway and leaned over to kiss Maria’s forehead.

Trying to lighten the mood, Michael said, “And you never thought about being pirates yourselves? You could definitely swashbuckle, I could see it.”

Alex and Maria both shook their heads, stacked on top of the other as Alex still held her from behind. 

“Piracy gets you in with scary people fast,” Alex said. “Like scary people who hurt people. The kind of people who hurt you, Michael. We’re not exactly friendly with the law, but that’s  _ because  _ we want to help people.”

“We run background checks on our clients, or we make sure it’s a friend or friend of a friend. My networks are bigger now. No mafia,” Maria said, wiping her eyes and patting Alex’s arm to let him know he could let her go.

“Huh. I guess I hadn’t thought of it like that—that it was pirates. A ship was just a ship, y’know? But Old Sanders  _ did  _ have an eyepatch. And possibly an old saber, but it could have also just been a kitchen knife from a species way bigger than us. I never saw him use it.” 

“I mean, if they thought indentured servitude was a legitimate business arrangement, they were pirates,” Maria said, sniffing derisively. “And not the fun kind.” 

“Think how close you came to triggering our villain origin stories by running off,” Alex teased, now picking up the knife again. “Especially if it’d killed Maria.” 

Michael flinched, but he tried not to show it, bending his head over the cutting board and saying nothing.

Maria snorted. “Kill me? I was sad, not—”

“I told you, I was researching, too,” Alex said, with a stern eyebrow. 

He’d taken the opportunity, surrounded by medical resources for Antarans for the first time in their lives, to look up some of the things Maria suffered when she overextended herself—the headaches, the nosebleeds. Some of what he’d found had been terrifying.

Maria rolled her eyes. “Researching or just fucking around on alien WebMD? Having a bond broken like that sucked, but it wasn’t going to kill me—do you think Antarans never get separated or lose people they’re bonded to? If it killed us every time, there’d hardly be any left.”

“What’s WebMD?” Michael asked.

“Don’t worry about it,” Maria said.

"I just want some informed consent here," Alex said, voice getting louder specifically at Maria. "The point is, there's a possibility in these bonds that having it broken is dangerous to the other party or parties."

"Alex,  _ cálmate _ ," Maria said. "I have never had a dad and I don't want my best friend acting like he's my father. And anyway, that was just a bad situation, none of us knew what we were doing or did anything on purpose, and if you’re going to start throwing blame around—"

“I’m not  _ blaming  _ anyone for anything!” Alex snapped. 

“It sure sounds like you are,” Maria snapped back. “Of course we want  _ informed consent,  _ we all want that, but  _ some  _ of us have lived our entire lives without that even being a possibility, knowing nothing about what we  _ are.  _ We’re trying, okay?”

“Right. Exactly. Now we have the resources, I want us to try more carefully. I’m worried about you two!” Of course, Alex didn’t sound worried as much as he sounded angry. He opened up his datapad and projected his readings up on the wall. “If one of you does something stupid while bonded, the other one could die, just, automatically. And that doesn’t happen to humans so where the fuck would that leave me, huh? I’m the one who’s stuck living without both of you if something goes wrong!” 

“If you don’t even trust us with our own  _ brains,  _ do you trust us at all? Newsflash, even Michael made it to almost thirty without toddling his way off the brain-death cliff, we’re not  _ children _ .”

“Oh,  _ even  _ Michael? He’s right there, DeLuca, now which one of us is being dismissive?”

“Hey!” Michael cut in. Negative emotion swirled all around them, nearly thick enough to choke on, but they’d been learning how to hold their heads above water, so he did. Alex didn’t know that, though; he’d been left alone with nothing but dry textbooks while Michael and Maria were being guided by someone who’d either been there, knew what it was like, or had helped people like them before. 

He said, “Alex, do you want to come with us to the next session? There are ways Antarans can protect themselves from psychic backlash. Maybe it would help you to hear it from someone else?” 

_ Someone you can trust,  _ he didn’t say, fearing, like Maria, that it was true that Alex didn’t trust them.

“But that doesn’t mean there isn’t still some risk,” Maria said sternly. “This is all based on emotion, you get that, right? No one has perfect control over their emotions, not even you. There will  _ always  _ be risks involved, even if they aren’t actually life or death ones. If you can’t accept that, we’re all going to get hurt, do you understand?”

“I understand, but I don’t have to like it,” Alex seethed, unable to really explain what was bothering him, “it’s just—I can’t—”

“You can’t protect us,” Michael filled in, just reaching in and picking out the fear that was making Alex so upset. “That upsets you.” 

Alex shook his head jerkily and stared at his feet. Then he nodded. 

Deflating just a bit, Maria unfolded her arms and stepped forward, taking Alex’s hand and squeezing it. “Alex, I know this telepathy stuff seems like a new threat, but it’s normal. Natural. Michael is right—you should come to our next session with the counselor. We shouldn’t have left you out to begin with.”

“We’re all in this together, right?” Michael said.

“I just—if anything at all happened to you,” Alex began, voice shaking, and neither Michael nor Maria could quite tell if he was angry or sad—or scared. “It just seems dangerous, is all.”

The rush of emotion from Alex wasn’t unusual, but the intensity of it was, and Maria hugged him. “Come with us next time,” she said again.

Alex groaned, but it was Michael giving him freaking puppy-dog eyes that had him caving: “Fine. Only to keep an eye on you two.” 

He kissed Maria’s forehead, and pulled Michael into a kiss as well, the tension dissipating, though his concern still obviously lingered. 

When they parted, Michael wrapped his arms around him from behind and propped his chin on his shoulder. “If anyone’s appetite’s gone, we can just hang out for a while. See what kind of weird alien movies Isobel watches.”

“What? No, I’m even hungrier,” Maria said. “And Isobel’s alien movies cannot be any weirder than ours.” 

She kissed Michael and squeezed Alex again: “But I can just make some basic mac and cheese if you guys want to cuddle on the couch.” 

Alex vaguely turned up his nose, but managed to more politely say, “I was really looking forward to Michael’s excellent cooking…” 

Maria laughed and pinched him. “Spoiled.”

“I think you mean  _ smart delegation.  _ This is why I should be the captain.”

“Watch it, you.”

Michael padded back into the kitchen and quickly finished cutting the veggies, getting them dressed and in the oven, then he stuck his head back in the fridge for inspiration for the rest of the meal.

Maria and Alex followed him even more closely, getting in his way more than helping. Eating real meat was still a treat, and Isobel had a freezer full of it: this time they pan-seared fish with garlic and lemon, and steamed some rice to go with it. By this point Maria had made another round of drinks, but they switched to white wine with dinner. 

“Michael, you’re incredible,” Maria moaned, once they were seated and eating. 

Alex’s praise was in his silence, as he ate steadily until his plate was empty. 

“This can’t be an Antaran special ability. I don’t have it. Isobel certainly doesn’t have it.” 

“Maybe only the men have it. Max can cook,” Alex pointed out, and then teased: “Maybe it improves their likelihood to score a  _ mate _ .” 

Michael groaned while Maria cackled.

“I’m going to make Isobel pay for telling you it was called that,” Michael said. “You’re both going to be sorry when my tentacles retract so far into my body they end up wrapped around my spine from how profoundly unsexy that is.”

“Sounds painful,” Maria winced.

For whatever reason, that had Alex spitting wine out his nose in an explosion of laughter. It took them several minutes to clean up, and even longer to stop laughing. 


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for your patience with us and this fic! it's definitely still ongoing, just slower! 
> 
> warning for discussion of pregnancy/mpreg and family planning, if that's not your thing!

Over their stay on Skain, some things changed, and others stayed the same. The greatest joy for any of them was the way Maria and Alex saw Michael blossom, around them and around his family and just within himself, coming to embrace the idea of having a community, of learning about himself, of not being alone anymore.

And whether it meant exploring museums, testing their flying skills on one of the test tracks near the port (Alex always won, and he was a sore winner, but Maria would get her revenge in one way or another), or just sitting back and watching Michael and Isobel play some telekinetic version of badminton, Maria and Alex enjoyed their stay on its own merits, too. It had been so long since either of them took an actual vacation. Wanderlust was something they both embraced, though they had different philosophies on it—Maria didn’t consider it wandering when the  _ Wild Pony  _ felt so much like a home—and both of them, and Michael, would feel the need to leave eventually. But for now, it was nice.

Sex between the three of them changed too, whether by natural progression of their growing familiarity with each other’s bodies and minds or as a result of Michael’s growing comfort and confidence. They paired off more often, less concerned with things growing "uneven" between Maria and Alex; they simply stopped keeping score. And the strength of the bond between the three of them only grew, despite any fears they had about things falling apart again. 

Not to mention reading about Antaran reproduction and sexual practice made a difference. 

“Wait, wait, wait,” Alex said, waking Michael who had been dozing in Maria’s lap. Alex sat up and displayed the datacrystal he had been reading on the wall. “All Antarans can get pregnant? I thought you laid eggs?” 

“Well, they still need to be incubated to viability,” Maria said sleepily. “But it’s like—just a few cycles, or something.”

Alex was wide awake. “So ‘Antarans essentially have three sets of sex organs: with the majority of members commonly having two, uterus and either ovipositors or testicles, and a smaller percentage having only one, or all three.’ Okay, awesome. Crazy.” 

Michael watched him with one eye open as Alex kept reading, finally scrolling to a very clinical but helpfully labeled diagram. 

“So...it’s like a seahorse’s brood pouch?” While Maria and Michael laughed, Alex kept reading, ignoring them: “Sorry: a ‘genital slit’?” 

Alex turned back to Michael when he stopped laughing, casting his mind back to giving him a rimjob and not remembering anything that at all resembled a slit or a vagina (not that he had loads of experience with those) or— “Okay, I’m sorry, how did I not  _ notice _ that? Do you have one?” 

Vaguely worried, Alex glanced back and forth between the data crystal and Michael, trying to determine where he would get answers soonest. 

"Yeah," Michael laughed. "I've got the standard cisgender male array."

Maria looked, and felt, a little worried, too: “Uhm, does it—feel good to be touched there? Have we been missing out?”

“Are we like straight human males discovering the clitoris for the first time?” Alex moaned. “I feel so stupid.”

“Don’t be. Sure, it feels good. But trust me, I’m not feeling neglected.” Michael grinned and dropped a kiss on Maria’s thigh. “You can take a look for yourself if you put the crystal away—my ego can’t handle possibly not measuring up to an anatomy textbook.”

“What, treating you like an anatomy lesson isn’t hot?” Maria teased, hitting the wall to close all the open tabs. She giggled, getting up on her knees between Michael’s legs. “Okay, c’mon, come on. Spread ‘em.” 

“Eager, huh? Maybe it’s my turn to make  _ you  _ two wait.” Michael said, even as he hooked his thumb in the waistband of his shorts and started inching them down.

Maria licked her lips, and Alex looked like he forgot he ever owned a data crystal, throwing his shirt off and crawling into bed. 

“I’d say turnabout’s fair play, but we all know you like it when we don’t play fair,” Alex said.

“Mm, you’d make  _ us  _ wait?” Maria said, also taking off her shirt, in case Michael wasn’t distracted enough. “You know I got my own to play with, I don’t need yours. Come on.” 

Michael’s hand crept up her leg to her hip, thumb skimming as high as the dip of her waist.

“Maybe you should buy a guy dinner first,” he said, then cackled as Alex finally pounced, yanking him a couple inches closer and trying to tug down his shorts himself—though not very hard, as he went easily when Michael put his hands on his chest and pushed him down and crawled on top of him. But when Maria tried to help Alex dislodge him, the three of them wrestled until Michael was on his back again and kicking his shorts eagerly to the floor.

Maria and Alex were giggling and flushed, and clocked heads together when they both went in to try to kiss Michael. 

“Ouch!” Maria said. “We’re getting distracted. You’re distracting us!” 

“Yeah, come on, I want to see this in action. It feels good to touch it?” Alex asked, pulling one of Michael’s thighs into his lap, while Maria took the other. Her tentacles were already out and feeling around Michael, teasing Michael’s tendrils out to play, too. 

Alex’s hand slid up the inside of Michael’s thigh, though he didn’t take his eyes off Michael’s face. “What am I looking for?” 

Maria laid her hand over Alex’s, voice soft, tender, smiling at them both. “I won’t let you get lost.” 

Together, their fingers slid down, ghosting over his belly, separating to tease over his cock and balls before joining up again lower down. Maria’s fingers led the way over the slit, massaging softly, back and forth until the slit began to open obviously. Her fingers grew slick, and she backed off to let Alex slide his fingers forward and in. 

“H-how’s that?” Alex asked. 

Michael rolled his head back and his hips forward, shifting his thighs open wider. “Mmm. Feels good, you can—more.”

Maria’s tentacles were already wrestling with Michael’s, wrapped around his legs and arms. She stroked his cock for real before slipping around Alex’s hand and pressing her middle finger into him. He was wet, and warm, pliable down there. Some Antaran hindbrain part of her was fantasizing about sticking her ovipositors up in there, but she ignored that for now. “Guess you don’t have anything like a clit,” she suggested, ready to look for one if she was wrong. 

Alex laughed, grabbing Michael’s cock with his other hand. “Excuse you. He’s got a very nice clit.” 

Maria conceded that with a chuckle of her own. “Can you tell us what feels good, Michael? Can I use my tentacles? Not the ovipositor, if you want to be on the safe side.” 

“I mean, the pull out method’s probably pretty effective when you’re literally laying eggs,” Michael said. “But I guess better safe than sorry is about a million times even more true when it comes to alien birth control, so….”

"You guys keep telling me about how there's no accidental pregnancies with Antarans!" Alex complained, and shifted his angle, lifting one of Michael’s legs and wrapping it around his own waist, and Michael hissed and arched his back.

"Yeah, well. We've never done this before," Maria said. "You can't put a condom on a tentacle. It's hard to feel sure."

“According to literally  _ everything  _ I’ve read, ‘feeling sure’ is 100% how a pregnancy happens,” Alex pointed out, less bedroom voice and more lecture voice now, sitting up on one elbow. “I mean I guess there’s some question with the human element, but we can figure that out if we ever do want kids.” 

Michael sputtered out a laugh, face going bright red. “Oh yeah, perfect time to talk about the big questions,  _ after  _ you’ve already got me going.”

He covered his face with his hands, not wanting them to see the irrepressible grin giving his feelings on the matter away.

Maria paused with two fingers sunk into him, because the wave of want at the mention of  _ kids _ was undeniable. 

“You wanna talk about kids?” Maria asked quietly, unsure why she was nervous to say it too loud. 

Alex also paused his hand on Michael’s dick, feeling such a serious conversation needed to happen with their hands to themselves, but he also didn’t want to leave Michael (or himself, really) hanging. “You’re saying...we don’t need to be careful?” 

Maria let out a breath, pulled her fingers out. 

“Do we want kids? Do you want kids?” she leveled at Michael. 

Michael dropped his hands from his face and sat up a little, digging his heel more into Alex’s back to keep him close as they moved position.

“I...don’t know,” he said lamely, knowing their connection was utterly calling him a liar. “I mean. You guys know I want a family. And...yeah. That includes kids. With you guys, ‘cause you’re already—my family. When we’re all ready. If.”

Alex slid his hands up Michael’s thighs. “My dad was a piece of shit. I always thought I would be too afraid to follow in his footsteps, but...I never imagined you, either. Having a family, the three of us, is something I could want, too.”

“I haven’t thought about having kids I wouldn’t have to carry, so, ah, if you're volunteering, I think I’m more into that than...I otherwise would be," Maria said. Michael's desire, so sweet and longing, to have a family, to be the parent he never got to have, that was...well it definitely appealed. She giggled, arms squeezing around Michael and Alex both. "We'd have to clean up our act. No more semi-legal jobs. I'm not raising hoodlums."

“No following in my footsteps,” Michael said, and Alex leaned forward to kiss him instead of contradicting him, Michael wrapping an arm around his back to press their chests together, shivering happily at the warm weight of Alex’s body pressing him into the sheets.

“You’re not a hoodlum,” Maria said, kissing Michael’s neck. “You’re more of a hooligan.” 

“A ruffian,” Alex agreed, kissing Michael’s chest and beginning to stroke his cock again while Maria went back to fingering Michael’s slit. 

“Ruffian, I like that. I’d like to fuck a certain ruffian. See what he likes  _ in here _ ,” Maria said, her tentacles already taking over for her fingers. 

Alex kept kissing his way down Michael’s chest until he licked the head of his cock. “ _ Apparently _ I don’t come down here often enough….” he laughed. 

“No, you—” Michael tried to say, but the combination of touches had Michael arching up on shaking thighs, moaning in shocked pleasure, squirming even as Alex pinned his legs down. Michael ran one tentacle down the line of his spine and back up, another one wrapping around his upper arm just to hold onto him. Meanwhile, his third pair twined around the tentacle sliding into him, his eyes fluttering shut, teeth clamping down on his lower lip.

“So that means  _ good _ , I’m guessing,” Maria said, and what the hell, the talk about having kids at least made her not shy about her ovipositors, though it wasn’t like she was packing any actual heat, as far as she knew, so while the other six tentacles gripped Michael tight, she used her thicker tendrils to press into him—one in his untouched slit and the other in his ass, finding his prostate unerringly. “Hey, I wonder if—” 

Michael interrupted her by almost  _ wailing  _ as she squeezed his prostate from both sides. Alex drew back with a wince as Michael’s nails dug into his shoulder, then grinned, shark-like, at the dazed look on Michael’s face.

“Well, that’s fun,” he said, and lowered his mouth back over his cock.

“Oh, dear, looks like he’s too easily overwhelmed like this, better not, he might hurt himself…” Maria said, teasing her tentacle out of his slit, as though she could possibly leave it and him alone after a reaction like that. 

Michael made another scandalized noise, and his tentacles tightened around hers trying to force her to hold still, and by the time she relented and filled him again, he was laughing breathlessly.

“Ha,  _ fuck,  _ you’re gonna kill me.”

Alex did something truly wicked with his tongue before popping off of him wetly. “What, us? Trying to put you into a sex coma?” 

“That doesn’t sound like us. We’re so gentle,” Maria agreed, lying up against him so she could shove even more of her thickest tentacles in him until they had to double up inside him, wriggling, exploring, teasing. 

Alex swallowed him down again, gagging only briefly before he took him to the root, and bobbed a few times, fingertips massaging his balls almost roughly to try to compete with the other sensations they were putting him through. 

“Ohfuck, Alex,  _ Maria— _ fuck!”

Overwhelmed and overstimulated, it barely took Michael any time at all to come with a shout, every muscle clenching then releasing in his body as he went limp, whimpering at every touch to his overheated skin.

Alex had never been much for swallowing cum, after one attempt with an early boyfriend where he thought it would make him look cooler and after decided it was not worth it—but for Guerin he would always make an exception. There was an underlying mustiness that was a good thing, that wonderful rainy smell that his sweat smelled like, and it was, well, if not quite delicious, then at least intoxicating. Alex left his softening dick alone, and as Maria’s tentacles withdrew, Alex’s fingers went back inside him, even though Michael whined at the overstimulation. 

“I’m led to believe this one’s called ‘the Spocker,’ right?” he laughed, sliding two fingers in and out of each hole. 

Maria cackled, a little breathless. “Pretty good for your first time, Manes. I think he’ll be ready for another round soon. I hope so.” 

“Nope. Dead. I warned you, you can’t say I didn’t warn you,” Michael gasped, arm thrown over his eyes, gasping again as another aftershock rippled through his entire lower body. His tentacles wound around them even tighter.

Alex bit his lip, and then bit Michael’s lips as he stretched out beside him, mercifully removing his fingers. Maria curled around his other side, their tentacles still locking all of them together. They settled, just breathing. 

“So. Kids, huh?” Maria spoke into the silence. 

A tremor went through Michael’s tentacles, all six tightening and relaxing just a fraction against his lovers. “Yeah,” he rasped, ducking his head to kiss Maria’s collarbone, but also to hide his face again. “I mean, it doesn’t have to be any time soon, we can wait, we can plan, and I know I’m on a better track but there’s still so much I need to work on, and…”

“Michael,” Alex murmured in reassurance, stroking the backs of his shoulders to soothe him.

“No, it’s—it’s nice,” Maria said, letting Michael tuck his face against her neck as much as he wanted. She hummed, feeling the vibration roll through his body. “I guess I always thought I’d freak out if a partner asked me that question. With you—with you  _ both _ —it sounds almost wonderful.” 

“A ship with three captains should probably have a crew,” Alex suggested. “An ensign or two.” 

But then Alex sat up to glare down at Michael. “If you want like five or six, we’re going to have to talk. Nothing puts you off wanting a big family like  _ being _ in a big family.” 

“I was kind of thinking of starting with one,” Michael said with a little disbelieving laugh. “I, um, bought an Antaran parenting book the first day we were here.”

Maria lifted her head. “Michael, that was weeks ago!” 

“Were you  _ ever  _ going to talk to us?” Alex asked, bemused. “How’d we let him keep a secret that long?” 

Maria snorted, covering her mouth quickly. “I mean he—” she tried, but laughed again as she looked at Michael. “You did kind of have a ‘secret passageway’ the entire time we were sleeping with you! You’re like a haunted house!” 

Michael groaned and threw his head back, though his chest shook with repressed laughter.

Alex laughed, covering his face. “My God. This secret lasted longer than the secret about your rap sheet. Longer than your long-lost royal siblings.”

“What a man of mystery,” Maria said, trying to sound serious but giggling helplessly. 

“What else do you need to tell us, Michael?!” Alex demanded, overly dramatic. “Do you have an evil twin?!”

“I don’t know, but you’d better start learning me real well so you can pick out the real one someday….just in case,” Michael said.

“A clone! Even worse!” Maria cried, until Alex hit her with a pillow. 


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Christmas at the Ortecho-Valenti-Evans's.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A Kyle/Liz/Max interlude, featuring Maria/Michael/Alex and Isobel. We promise this fic isn't dead, just slow!

“Are you sure?”

Max held the tree-topper, the angel hand-made by Kyle’s abuela (many times over), slightly away from his body like he was afraid his aura would shatter it or something. 

“I’m sure,” Kyle said. He wouldn’t laugh at Max’s anxiety, that would be rude, but it was kind of adorable. “Trust me, it’s an honor. Right, Liz?”

“But if I somehow do it wrong, you two will gang up on me,” Max protested. “Antarans don’t do Christmas and my Earth parents never celebrated it with us, so—” 

“Max!” Liz exclaimed, hands splaying in annoyance. “Just put it on top of the tree! It is no more complicated than that!” 

“I could get the stepstool, if one of you two wanted to...” Max ventured. 

“ _ No, _ Max,” Kyle said. “Just wing it, okay? We promise to only tease you a little bit. We want you to be a part of our traditions, yeah? Don’t try and give it up to make us happy; you being here is what makes us happy.”

Max looked slightly dubious about this, but he placed the angel on the tree, straightened it, and stepped back. 

“It’s crooked,” Liz said, and then laughed. “I’m kidding! Help me plug it in,” she said, disappearing behind the tree. 

Max didn’t so much help as he did hover, peering around the branches as Liz did all the work, his face splitting into an awed grin when Kyle hit the overhead lights and washed all of them in soft rainbow light.

“Not too bad for your first time,” Kyle said, crossing the room again and sliding his arm around Max’s waist in a sideways hug.

Max shivered, still barely able to believe these two wonderful humans, these two wonderful people, had taken him into their lives and their hearts and their traditions. He hugged Kyle back, and then, feeling brave, leaned in and kissed him. “Can I get you a traditionally spiked eggnog?” 

“You can get me one!” Liz cried, cutting in and pressing herself between them. They were all wearing cozy sweaters, and Liz loved to hug them both all the more because of them. 

“Well, uh, you gotta let me go before I can do that,” Max said, not wanting to be let go at all. 

“That sounds like a challenge,” Kyle said. He slid a hand under the hem of Max’s shirt, resting over one of his tentacle ridges, making him shudder.

“Woah there,” he laughed, a little breathlessly.

“You definitely can’t get him excited now,” Liz said. “Maria and Alex will be here any minute with Michael.” 

“That’s true.”

Kyle pulled his hand away, though it was so warm under Max’s shirt that he kind of wanted to crawl inside it. Time for that later, though.

“I’m looking forward to meeting him,” he said instead.

Max bit his lip, and then reluctantly pulled away. “Okay. Eggnog. Gotta make sure it’s up to snuff before the actual space bartender gets here.”

“Maria hasn’t bartended in years. Anyway, Alex will still love you. You can talk about all the dumb old scifi novels that never came true,” Liz pointed out. 

“They’re not dumb, they’re still art!” Max yelped.

“Now who’s riling him up?” Kyle asked, shaking his head and going into the kitchen. 

That was where they all ended up, sneaking more whiskey into each other’s mugs when they weren’t looking. Max poked his head into the oven, like watching it would make the turkey end up perfect, while Liz and Kyle added more cinnamon and nutmeg to their eggnogs “Just to feel something.” 

“I’m feeling  _ lots  _ of things looking at that ass, I don’t know about you,” Liz suggested, hiding behind her eggnog mustache. 

Kyle almost inhaled his eggnog at that, leaving him spluttering as Liz cackled. If either of them challenged Max on his bright red face when he stood up, he’d have said that it was just because of the heat, but neither of them bothered. He checked his comm while Liz tugged Max in by his belt loops, and then he lifted her onto the counter for a better angle to kiss.

“Hey, my mom wants a picture of us in front of the tree,” he said, grabbing and rubbing Liz’s ankle when she tried to kick him for interrupting.

"She'll have to wait until we have someone to take the picture," Liz said, yanking her foot out of Kyle’s grasp so she could wrap her arms and legs around Max, all the better to kiss him.

Kyle was staring down the eggnog which had already betrayed him. "Is there a way to make eggnog low fat?"

Liz pulled away from Max. "Kyle Manuel," she snapped. "You said today was gonna be a cheat day."

Max laughed. “It’ll be okay, Kyle. If you let it go today, I’ll go to the gym with you tomorrow and let you do your worst.”

Kyle's eyes went as bright as the Christmas tree, and he was just leaning in to kiss Max when the doorbell rang. 

"I'll get it," Liz said, slipping out from between the boys as she ran to the door, leaving them making out in the kitchen. 

"Bleh," Max finally said. "Too much nutmeg."

Kyle burst out laughing just as a clamor of voices and happy squealing from Liz and Maria lit up the front room.

“Don’t let Rosa hear you say that,” he said, leading the way out of the kitchen.

“I don’t think Rosa will want to hear what nutmeg tastes like licked out of your mouth,” Max suggested, stepping into the living room to see introductions already underway. 

After Kyle had been introduced to Michael and shook hands companionably, Max pulled his brother into a bear hug. “I missed you, buddy. How’s it going?” 

“Buddy?” 

But Michael went along with it, hugging him tightly and only barely descending into male posturing with a slap on the back when they separated.

“It’s been good, you know us, traveling the stars, swashbuckling, et cetera…”

Max gave Michael a skeptical look. 

“Yesterday we spent five hours on paperwork, it’s a thrill a minute,” Alex said dryly as he passed them.

Max beamed and laughed, and hugged Michael again, all while he complained loudly that he needed a  _ permit  _ to grow vegetables in his own goddamned garden in his own cargo bay!

Alex and Maria brought their contributions to the Christmas dinner into the kitchen. 

“Michael made actual green chile mac! I tasted it and it’s great!” Maria gushed to Liz and Kyle, while Kyle ducked into the fridge to hand Alex a beer. 

“ _ Lite _ , Valenti? It’s Christmas.” Alex complained, but he popped the top. 

“Bring your own booze next time, Manes, if mine’s not good enough,” Kyle snarked back, tapping his own beer against Alex’s.

“We do have whiskey!” Max said. “I’ll hook you up with some eggnog when you finish your water.” 

“It’s not water!!” Kyle shrieked. 

“Is Isobel gonna be here?” Michael asked, flopping down on the couch.

“Fashionably late, but yes,” Liz said, possibly already getting drunk. “She’s bringing dessert, and more alcohol, I think? Oh! We have appetizers!” 

“Did someone say appetizers?” Isobel called, letting herself into the house, holding some deviled eggs that even looked homemade, or like she took them out of the package to make them look homemade. “Max, I need your help getting things from the speeder.” 

“Isobel, you can move things with your brain.”

“Irrelevant!”

Michael laughed, until Isobel rounded on him.

_ “ _ And  _ you  _ can go get me a drink. Eggnog, Ortecho family recipe.”

“What? C’mon!”

“Chop chop!”

"That means lots of spice. I'll help you, Mikey," Liz said, ushering Michael into the kitchen. In the kitchen it was quieter, and Liz squeezed him. "How have you been? I want to hear all about the hydroponic garden endeavors." 

“I’m going to start with something basic, like tomatoes, but I have big plans,” Michael said, launching into an animated discussion with her about the effects of artificial gravity and reclamated water and the ways to counteract them. It definitely went a little long—long enough that Kyle poked his head into the kitchen to check on them.

“Everything okay in here? Our collective sister/sister-in-law is getting a little antsy for the booze, y’know.”

“Oh, right!” Liz laughed, sputtering. “Woo. I may have hit the whiskey a little hard. Gimme a deviled egg! First, eggnogs. Mikey, help me,” she laughed as she poured three more eggnogs, heavy on the whiskey and heavy on the cinnamon and nutmeg. “Isobel! We need more whiskey in here!” 

Isobel waltzed in with a few brown paper bags and exchanging them for hugs. “I definitely brought extra. I know my audience. How you doing, brother?” 

“Thriving or whatever,” he said, taking a swig of the whiskey before topping off the last eggnog with it. “How about you? Practice getting off the ground?”

“Oh, you know, it’s just a hobby,” Isobel said, in her meanest impersonation of her mother, complete with eyeroll. “Nah, it’s going good. Getting some clients, even some by word of mouth, now. Nothing nearly as exciting as you.” 

Liz handed Isobel a drink and they clinked glasses together. 

Kyle prodded everyone out of the crowded kitchen to socialize in front of the tree instead. Using his TK to keep his glass steady, Michael flopped in between Alex and Maria.

“We should decorate the ship,” he said, giving the decorations an envious eye. He’d never decorated for  _ any  _ holiday before.

“But then we just have to—put them...away,” Maria complained, but one look, one psychic whiff of Michael’s excitement and she shook her head. “Okay, fine! We’ll decorate.”

“You’re spoiling him,” Alex said, then looked shifty. “ _ We’re _ spoiling him.” 

“And clearly we need to keep the booze going because I didn’t know you were physically capable of talking about relationships!” Kyle said, pawning off his own eggnog on Alex. “Tell us everything about how committed relationship life is treating you, old man!” 

Alex glared at Kyle, but then he was bombarded by a double dose of teasing from Maria and contentment from Michael and he relented.

“I don’t need to be wasted to express emotion,” he grumped, and he only grumped harder when Maria, Liz, and Kyle all snickered at him. He did take another gulp of eggnog, though, put on the spot and embarrassed about it.

“It’s...good,” he said, and then clammed up again. Michael leaned over and kissed his cheek.

“Good,” Liz scoffed. “Eggnog is good, Alex!” 

“Why don’t you tell us first.  _ Actual  _ married life,” Maria suggested. Liz, Max, and Kyle had moved quickly, in her opinion, but she supposed when telepathic beings were involved it was more permissible. 

“It really hasn’t changed much,” Liz said. 

“You’re so unromantic!” Max accused, pulling her down onto his and Kyle’s lap, spilling eggnog down her arm. 

“ _ You  _ were the one who wanted us to elope,” she laughed, smearing it off on Max’s shirt. 

Kyle watched them both, misty-eyed enough that Alex might have been embarrassed for him if he didn’t understand. 

“It’s been good,” Kyle said softly, and Maria and Michael both rolled their eyes and groaned loudly.

“None of you have a single ounce of poetry,” Michael complained.

Max sat up at that. “Hey! I resent that!”

"Po-e-try! Po-e-try!" Maria and Isobel started chanting together, neither knowing who started it but happily high-fiving.

Max held up his hands.

"There's nothing like knowing someone has chosen you,  _ for _ you, out of all the beings in the universe," Max began slowly. "And as the Antarans say, love isn't finite. Loving someone  _ and _ loving the person they love most  _ with _ them is a unique perspective in the universe."

Max grinned at the two of them. "But no, the marriage ceremony didn't change that."

Liz grinned back, eyes shining, and buried her face in his neck, and Kyle crossed the room to kiss his temple.

“Fine, you proved me wrong,” Michael complained, but he was laughing too.

"I'll enjoy the single life while it lasts, then," Isobel said, tossing her hair. 

“One of us should,” Michael said, and then squawked when Maria pinched him. 

Liz giggled, draping herself across her husbands. “Okay, when do we eat? I need to sober up.” 

“We have to get pictures first!” Isobel cried. 

They shoved everyone on the couch for one picture, then Isobel shuffled the triads around to get pictures of them together, then shoved her camera into Kyle’s hands to take a picture of her with her brothers. When all was done, she smiled flipping through the images, sending them all to the comms of everyone present.

“It’s too bad Rosa couldn’t be here,” she sighed. “Why did her gallery have to do their Christmas event  _ today _ ? Ugh!”

"The same reason Papi works through Thanksgiving and Christmas and takes a random day off before New Years," Liz said. "The Ortechos don't celebrate Christmas on Christmas. Papi worked something out with San Cristobal, I think."

Kyle laughed: he was obviously overly-tipsy at this point, too. 

“Arturo is crafty like that,” he said.

“Well you and Max have been dating for years and I’ve only met her once! And Michael’s  _ never  _ met her.”

“I hadn’t met Kyle ‘til just now either, and he’s, like, a direct in-law,” Michael pointed out. “Our jet-setting lifestyle is hard to keep up with.”

“Speaking of which,” Max said, “Where are you guys headed next?”

“Michael needs dirt for his garden, so we figured we’d make some money while we’re at it and transport some. It’s not exactly glamorous, but…”

“Okay,  _ I’m  _ eating,” Liz said. “If Michael’s going to talk more about gardening. I can’t even think about a tomato if I don’t get to eat something right now!” 

“Easy,” Max said, standing up and setting Liz back on the couch. “Isobel, Michael, can you help me get everything set up?” 

Telekinesis made for a very quickly set table, and Michael didn’t even tease about Max’s prowess in the kitchen—in fact, compliments flowed as freely as the eggnog had earlier, until Max had to flee into the kitchen for more ice to escape it.

Kyle followed him with the pitcher for more water as well. “How’re you holding up?”

Max's cheeks were red and his face even a little sweaty, from exertion, maybe, or just delight. "I'm...so happy to have our first Christmas together, with the people we love."

He wrapped his arms around Kyle, humming softly into his temple. "Maybe we could set Rosa up with Isobel…"

Kyle put the pitcher aside to hug him back, resting against his shoulder. He’d never be caught dead saying he liked the height difference between them that let him do that, but he did. 

“You’re...ridiculously sweet,” he said. “I don’t know how much meddling either of them would appreciate, but Isobel does seem to be missing her…”

"Rosa's coming to New Year's for sure. Maybe we can just...make sure they have some time alone," Max suggested. When Kyle stayed pressed against his chest he chuckled. "Okay, we need to get some carbs in you, my man. You're falling asleep."

Kyle mumbled something against him that might have been ‘carbs are the enemy,’ taking a second to appreciate the warmth of Max’s body, but he straightened up afterward and brought the water and ice back to the table while Max heated up the rest of the dinner rolls. Liz squeezed his hand as he passed her chair. It was the part of the night that always came, where no matter how much fun he was having or how much he loved their friends and family, that his mind started to stray to afterward, curled up in bed with his partners.

Isobel was deep into a story about the incompetence of other mind-healers, and Kyle slid seamlessly into listening, laughing and outraging at all the right places, until she was done, took a drink, and sighed.

“Anyway, how has your work been going, Kyle? Anything interesting lately?”

Kyle laughed. “If you’re looking for the usual stories about the range of things people of any species will insert into various orifices, I probably shouldn’t.”

"No you definitely should!" Liz cried. "Tell them about the couple who stuck a dildo on a hand saw!"

"Oh my God,  _ not _ at dinner, please," Maria said, covering Liz’s mouth with her hand. The twins had borrowed Michael for the evening, which was fine because Maria and Alex wanted to catch up with Liz and Kyle, anyway. 

"Make her drink water, please," Max said, passing a glass down to Maria. "Nobody's allowed to lose their dinner when everything is this good. Michael, I'm loving the chile mac!" 

"The turkey's really moist, Max," Alex complimented. 

“Thanks! Arturo showed me how to do it and Liz let me have a crack at it this year. It’s not nearly as good as his would be, though. You guys should come to his feast in a few weeks! If you’re back from your dirt trip, I mean.”

Michael was tipsy enough to laugh about ‘dirt trip,’ and Maria laughed along, reaching around Isobel to stroke his back.

"Better enjoy this now, baby," Maria said, refilling his glass. 

"I thought you guys said you  _ could _ afford beer in between jobs," Isobel teased. 

When Michael's eyes got very large, however, like a deer caught in headlights, Isobel crooned. 

"Wait, what? Am I going to be an  _ auntie _ ?"

Isobel was always direct, but maybe she'd had more to drink than she thought she had, too. Everyone stared at her and then Michael, and then at Maria and Alex, who looked vaguely embarrassed. 

"Okay, not how we wanted to drop that bomb," Alex joked, face in his palm. 

“Maria’s fault,” Michael mumbled, taking a gulp, then yelping when she pinched him. Then he added, “Um, not, like, anytime soon, but…”

“‘Definitely someday’ soon,” Alex said, reaching across the table to squeeze Michael’s hand.

“Enough that we’ve been talking about it, anyway. I don’t think he’s ready to give up alcohol yet,” Maria said. 

Then began a chorus of cheers and congratulations. Max and isobel were clearly over the moon, as were Liz and Kyle, whose delight was tinged vaguely with relief. 

“Just so long as I’m allowed to borrow it for Papi to play with,” Liz said. 

“Me for my mom, too,” Kyle added, his fast metabolism using the shock of that revelation to work through the last of the alcohol in his system. “We’ve had the kid talk and it’s just not for us.” 

“But I love kids, so you’ve got a babysitter anytime. Babies can go on ridealongs, right?” Max teased, joshing Michael and getting an arm around him to hug him aggressively. 

“Ridealongs to the hipster writer coffee shop, maybe,” Michael groused. “No kid of mine is gonna grow up thinkin’ being a cop is acceptable.”

But when he shoved Max back, it was playful, and he ducked his head to grin into his glass the next time he took a drink.

"That's fair," Liz and Kyle said together. 

"Okay, how far along into the planning are you?" Isobel demanded. "Can we ask? Do you have a doctor yet? You'll stay planetside of course. Names? Baby room decorated yet? Can I help?"

“Whoa, whoa, Isobel, one thing at a time. I’m sure you get sole sovereignty over the baby shower, okay?” Michael said. “We...don’t really have room for a nursery on the Pony, so that’s a big part of our decision making…”

“Let us know if we can help. Seriously,” Kyle said, mostly to Alex. “Upgrades to the Pony, down payment on a place planetside—look,” he said, to cover up protest, “a surgeon, a research scientist, and a prince, we are a triple income no kids household. Let us help with baby money.” 

“I’m already starting a college fund for the little munchkin,” Liz said, her face going fully heart-eyes. 

“I can recommend Antaran doctors,” Isobel said. 

“We’ll let you all know when we get to that point,” Alex said, holding up a hand. “I promise. We plan to rely on you all a lot.” 

Michael sank down in his chair, having officially been the center of attention for too long, and Max squeezed his shoulder. Isobel pouted, sensing that it was time to move on.

“Well, just let me know,” she said loftily, but the smile she shot Michael was sweet and genuine. 

They did move on after that, to dishwashing, and then dessert, and then watching old earth Christmas classics such as  _ A Muppet Christmas Carol _ and  _ Die Hard. _ Isobel, Michael, and Maria cuddled on the couch, while Max, Liz and Kyle piled up on top of some big pillows and each other on the floor, and Alex enjoyed a loveseat with a footrest all to himself. 

"You guys, hush! Michael hasn't seen this one!" Maria said, nudging Kyle with her foot. 

“Their quest to educate me on Earth culture is vitally important,” Michael said, and he pulled Maria closer so he could watch with his chin resting over her shoulder.

“ _ A Muppet Christmas Carol _ is one of our most beloved tales of legend,” Alex agreed sagely.

"I don't know about that, but it is fucking hilarious," Liz said, giggling where she and Max were wrapped around Kyle. Kyle always smelled so good and was so cuddly despite being all bone and muscle. They shifted again so they were both propped up against Max's bulk. Liz could have fallen asleep here. 

Maria was having a similar problem snuggled up to Michael, and Alex eyed her drowsy relaxation with envy, weighing his current comfort in the chair with the idea of switching places with Isobel so he could get his too, tempted even more by Michael’s soppy, happy look at him over Maria’s shoulder. He really was  _ so  _ comfortable, though, and he had the bond between the three of them in his chest keeping him more than warm enough. Michael even ran a telekinetic hand in a caress across his chest, and Alex smiled back at him.

Full of food and good cheer, the hosts showed everyone to their rooms. The house was huge—

"See? Big enough for you and the kid, if just for a few years," Max suggested, though it didn't exactly sound like he had run this by his partners, as he showed them to a guest bedroom with a huge bed. "Bathroom’s down the hall."

"Thanks, Max," Alex said, shaking Max's hand, but the big guy pulled him into a hug. 

He hugged Maria and Michael too, making sure to slap Michael on the back a few extra times for good measure, and then he bid them goodnight and left.

“That guy,” Michael muttered, though he was smiling as he undressed.

“Your family is something else,” Alex agreed, then snorted to himself—it was a joke every time he commented on someone else’s family.

“They’re your family too,” Michael said, and slid into bed, going right to the center before Maria or Alex could do anything about it.

“Does that mean I can throw my family out?” Alex asked, stripping down to his underwear and crawling into bed with them. “Just take yours instead? Mimi half-raised me anyway. And Max is—and Kyle—more brothers than mine ever were.” 

“I thought you already had?” Maria waited until she was under the covers to strip, to maximize warmth. “This has been a nice Christmas. Ortechos always throw a good party.” 

“Definitely the best Christmas I’ve ever had,” Michael said, pulling both of them into him, wrapping Maria’s arm around his waist and tucking his head into Alex’s shoulder.

...

“I’m glad we invited everyone,” Kyle said, sitting on the end of the bed, not hiding how he was watching his partners undress.

Liz stripped off everything sloppily, but Max was sure to give Kyle a show before they joined him in bed. 

“I think it was a good dry run. Next time we’ll have to invite the parents, too.  _ Definitely  _ if we have a little niece or nephew by then!!” Max said. He was clearly thrilled by even the idea of this. “I mean your parents. Not sure mine would come, but who knows.” 

“Mimi, too,” Liz said. 

Max bit his lip and stared up at the ceiling. “Guys, don’t leave me if their baby warps my mind into thinking I want babies too. Snap me out of it nicely.”

"We will," Liz said, as Kyle said "We won't," hopefully to different things. 

"I mean, if you're doing all the work, I dunno maybe," Liz ventured, patting Max's stomach, brushing his tentacles and making him giggle. 

"I dunno about  _ work _ , it's like a month of internal gestation…."

"Well neither of us are staying home with it," Kyle said.

"Hey maybe this is how we get him to quit the Force!" Liz cried in evil delight. 

“Maybe…” Max said, looking a little misty eyed just at the thought.

“Not a decision we’re making after consuming a collective  _ vat  _ of eggnog.” Kyle half-crawled over Liz to kiss Max goodnight, then kissed Liz herself, then settled back down with a contented sigh.

Liz was not so much the middle of the pile as the one who slept on top of Kyle and Max. They both had the pleasure of waking up inhaling her long hair that way, she said, and when either of them had early calls, she would be alerted and could get up to start her day. No one had early calls, tomorrow, however. 

Liz lifted her head. “No one’s on call tomorrow right?”

“Mm-m,” Max murmured.

“Day after,” Kyle said. “How about you? Any experiments you have to get back to?”

“Nope. That’s what interns are for,” Liz said, with her face on Max’s shoulder and her arm around Kyle. Her flexibility sometimes freaked them out, especially when she was sleeping, but it was her neck. “Night. Love you guys.” 

“Love you too,” Kyle said, with a kiss to her shoulder. Max’s hand came up to stroke his back, and Kyle smiled against Liz’s skin.

Max said, “Love you all,” and then the busy night was over.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One year later...

After more than a year together, Maria, Alex, and Michael had made many changes to the _Wild Pony_ , but their triad was steadfast. 

Cargo Bay 2 was solidly climate controlled and even quite tropical, now, as Michael had a fully functioning hydroponic greenhouse in there. The credits they saved in oxygen reclamation and foodstuffs more than paid for the space lost for cargo. 

The latest job was giving even Maria baby fever, even Alex. Transporting livestock was supposed to be a quick and easy job, especially since Michael actually _liked_ animals and did most of the work. But when the livestock was Giant Maritan Rabbits, large enough to ride, and they had the libidos of regular small Earth rabbits, i.e., fucked like bunnies, you had the occasional accidental kindling and a litter of eight new adorable baby kittens. Eight of them! 

“Shut the door!” Alex cried, as Maria entered his room. “They’re escaping!” 

He had converted his ‘room’ (which had functioned for months as more of a music studio and communal sitting room, ever since Maria had bought the huge new Saturnian King-sized mattress that felt so desperately good on his back—and often had Michael in it) into a nest for the baby and mother, but the mom also left often, to feed, before returning to feed the kittens. 

“I know,” Maria said, holding a tiny escapee aloft—it was the size of a small dog, and wriggling ferociously, making a distressed clucking sound. “Found this guy chewing on the cables. Michael’s fixing it. How much extra on delivery do we get for each of these rascals?” 

“Enough to make it worth it to not murder the fulffballs,” Alex promised, even as he ducked to avoid a kit that really wanted to chew on his hair where it was getting long enough to brush his collar.

“Enough to pay for like three new tubes of electrical epoxy, I hope,” Michael added as he came into the room, beelined for Alex, and lifted the rabbit off his back to cradle it in his arms.

“It’s a good thing they’re cute. I bet they’d make excellent stew,” Maria said, even as she laid down on the floor to get swarmed by the little buggers, who were very social and liked to cuddle. They had been born blind and naked, but now that their eyes were open, they were irresistibly cute. 

“We could keep one, maybe? For the kid,” Maria laughed, shrieking as she got climbed on and gently nibbled on. Their incisors hadn’t come in yet so it was still pretty cute. “Maybe I’ll learn to knit their fur and make blankets and socks.” 

“They don’t stay babies forever,” Alex said wistfully. “Maybe we should start with Earth rabbits until the kid is less...crushable.”

Michael said, “I don’t care, I want to keep them all and take over the galaxy with my terrible rabbit cavalry. I had no idea these things existed, but now I would die for them.”

Maria laughed, patting the ground next to her until Michael joined her on the floor. The furniture in here was covered with fur, and Alex’s instruments had had to be put away, but it was worth it. Seeing Alex reigning over a pile of huge baby rabbits was a sight for the ages. And despite still being his fussy self, Maria thought, Alex was perfectly patient with the little tribbles—far more than she expected. 

“I mean, they’re not battle rabbits,” Alex mused. “Those are bigger.” 

A fanatical gleam leapt into Michael’s eye. “Battle rabbits _exist?_ ”

Maria covered his ears. “Alex, no! He’ll become too powerful!”

Michael cried, “My kingdom for a—oof!” 

He was cut off by a mouthful of fur as one of the babies leapt onto his face.

The kitten stomped about on Michael’s chest until it deemed him comfortable enough, and then started licking his stubble, and eventually stretched out flat on top of him. This time, it clucked in pleasure. 

“Okay, okay, maybe we don’t need one,” Maria said, eyes shining, because the cuteness was too much to handle. “Or we have 36 hours to decide.” 

“That’s up to the guy with the plants, I think,” Alex suggested. 

“Aww, I don’t want to be the bad guy,” Michael complained. “We just don’t have enough space, I don’t think. Especially because they couldn’t hang out in the garden…”

"Yeah, they need sun, too. You're worth much more to us as bounty, I'm afraid," she told the kitten in her lap. 

"But maybe we could think about a regular-sized rabbit," Alex suggested. "Or like a dog. Kids should have pets."

"You mean _you_ want a dog," Maria teased, knowing Alex was a great softie underneath it all. 

“Do we have space for a dog?” Michael asked. “I’ve never had a dog. There are so many kinds, it’s intimidating. Earth animals are fucking wild.”

"I mean honestly probably not," Alex sighed. "But we've spent so much time getting the ship perfect we kind of have the whole galaxy as our backyard, and I like that."

"We certainly don't have space for a teenager," Maria laughed. "We'll settle down at some point and get Alex a dog."

“Maybe we should get some kind of pet, though,” Michael said in a flash of anxiety. “Make sure we can keep something that depends on us alive for more than a week.”

Alex tilted his head at him. “Michael, have you _seen_ your garden? I’m pretty sure it’s proof enough of care and commitment to turn a shitty cargo bay into a greenhouse.”

“We’ve got eight proofs we can keep something alive for a week,” Maria said, holding up a kitten and kissing it before passing it off to Michael. “You need to calm down and hug a bunny.” 

The kitten fell off him in a scrambling heap but tucked itself up against his side. All the rabbits liked how warm Michael was, and several more of the babies hopped over. 

Buried in baby giant rabbits, Michael’s voice was muffled as he said, “That’s it, go on without me, I’m stuck here forever now.”

“We know you like it,” Maria said. 

“A fine way to get out of feeding the livestock,” Alex laughed, but Michael had done it for a few days in a row, and Maria had mucked out the stalls this morning, so he supposed it was only fair he roll out the bales of hay and get them fresh water. He stood up. “I’ll be back.” 

“Bring Mama back,” Maria called, blocking the door so none of the little rascals escaped. Then she grinned at Michael, who looked absolutely beatific. 

“I’m going to leave the _Pony_ and become a bunny rancher,” Michael said. “Who needs engines? We should just farm.”

"You," Maria laughed. " _You_ like engines. You'd be unhappy if you couldn't tinker with things you understand and make them work better. I suppose people use equipment to ranch and farm, though…"

She hummed, playing with a rabbit's tail. They were not the little fluffs of cotton she thought from never having seen a rabbit up close before this job: they actually had tails, just short ones. She liked playing with them. 

"Do you want to settle down before or after we have a kid?" she asked, point-blank. "I mean settle down on a planet."

Michael looked down, petting the floppy ears of the closest bunny. “I’ll...I’ll be honest, I don’t know if I’ll ever want to settle down, permanently. Upgrade to a bigger rig someday for more space, sure. Reevaluate what we need when it comes time for school and stuff, make hard choices, sure. But I was raised out here in the black, and it’s...you know, my childhood may have sucked, but empty space is my home.”

Maria huffed, peering at him quizzically. "You know I don't think I had ever known that about you. That you like it out here that much."

Like one of the rabbits, Maria was drawn to him, and she actually picked one up and put it out of the way to snuggle up against his shoulder there on the floor. "So. Maybe we think about smaller, safer jobs for a while. Maybe the rest of our lives."

“All the jobs involving bunnies that the galaxy can hold,” Michael agreed sagely. He shrugged the shoulder not under her head and said, “I could get used to living planetside if I had to. Somewhere peaceful, with a big sky. Not too much light pollution. Building a home with you two...building a family somewhere that stays still...it’d be a good life. But yeah. I like falling asleep to the sound of an engine.”

"I was going to be a little disappointed if you wanted to settle, I admit. I like exploring the galaxy way too much,” Maria admitted. 

Alex found them like that, in a pile of rabbits. As soon as their mother arrived, however, even Michael became as good as chopped liver to the kittens, who swarmed her for milk. The mother gave Alex a betrayed look. 

Michael, though, wrapped a hand around Alex’s ankle and squeezed, inviting him to join them in the cuddle pile.

“Don’t we have beds for this?” Alex laughed, but he laid down anyway, and Michael hummed happily as he settled on his other shoulder.

After a moment, Alex spoke again, like he was admitting something: 

"I definitely need to wait until these babies are out of here before I trust myself to make a rational, non-hormonal decision," Alex said, reaching around to scratch Maria's arm. "But I keep feeling like I'm ready to be a...uh, a dad."

"Don't hurt yourself," Maria teased. He pinched her. 

Michael’s heart fluttered in his chest. “Do...do you think? I mean, it hasn’t been that long, I...”

It would be stupid to ask if they were sure about him, with their love living in his chest beside his own for them. 

“It hasn’t,” Maria agreed with a shrug. “But if it’s something we all want, why wait? I’ve always wanted to be a MILF. And I’m practically an old maid compared to when my mom had me.” 

Alex rubbed up and down Michael’s chest, and kissed him. “What do your parenting books tell you?” 

Watching the ceiling, Michael swallowed against a wave of emotion and shrugged, shoulders rolling beneath both Maria and Alex. “You’ll have to read them for yourself.”

Then a teary giggle escaped him, and Michael raised his hand to thumb at his eye. “I just...I never thought I’d have this, I…”

“You have it. You have us,” Alex told him, firmly, squeezing him, and kissing him until Maria wanted her turn. 

“And you tell us when you’re ready,” Maria agreed. 

* * *

“It’s a good thing we only let you come once tonight, isn’t it,” Alex said, holding Michael down by his shoulders. “Otherwise we might not have gotten to this part.”

“You’re a bastard,” Michael laughed breathlessly. 

They had just dropped off the rabbits, and splurged on foodstuffs and alcohol, and were having a raunchy good time, really enjoying _not_ having to be responsible parents for now. 

They were more adventurous with sex these days, playing around with Michael’s vaginal slit more, flirting closer and closer to that line of wanting to have a baby. For now, though, they were just teasing him. 

“You love it,” Alex and Maria countered, at the same time, Maria’s voice vibrating between his legs. 

Maria saw his legs flinch like he was trying to squeeze them shut, and she giggled. 

“Oh, don’t be shy with me, baby.” 

With a huge grunt, Maria lifted his hips up and shoved a pillow underneath his hips, so he was propped up at a nicer angle to explore, touch, and taste. His vaginal slit tasted salty, but oozed something clearer, completely unlike his cum. It almost tasted pleasant, and Maria wondered idly if that was what she tasted like (the way Michael went down on her like a starving man every time might have something of an explanation if so) before slipping her tongue inside him. He parted for her actually quite a lot like rose petals, as the muscles relaxed. “Oh, _sweetheart…_ ” 

Alex, meanwhile, was watching something bloom across Michael’s face. Maybe he’d just never watched him this closely when Maria gave him a blowjob, but this seemed different. “You doing okay?” 

“Hhhah...I’m fine. Feels weird, but—good.”

Michael planted a foot on the bed so he had more leverage to shift his hips with Maria’s movements, fingers clutching the sheets on either side of him. His half-hard cock twitched against his stomach, and he moaned when Maria ran her hands up his sensitive inner thighs.

“Want me to hold his hands, Maria?” Alex asked, settling down and peppering Michael’s face and neck with kisses. He grasped Michael’s wrists, anyway. “Want to see if he can come without anyone touching his dick.” 

“Not sure you’ll be able to keep his tentacles off him—or mine,” Maria said, going back to licking him with broad, flat swipes of her tongue, feeling more than seeing him open up for her until there was definitely a sizeable, recognizable slit, something she could get her ovipositors into easily. 

As if in response, Michael coiled a tentacle around Alex’s wrist and squeezed playfully, another one wrapping around Maria’s where it rested on his thigh, his third pair coiling around the base of his dick and just resting there like it was waiting for Alex to do something about it, or give him permission.

“F-fuck, Maria…”

“You tell me if you need me to back off, babe,” Maria said. She hadn’t done this for a long time, and anyway it wasn’t like the anatomy she was used to, anyway, but if she struggled a bit with this, Michael didn’t complain. In fact, he kept rocking his hips up into her eagerly. 

Alex watched Michael begin to pant and his cock grow hard with arousal, all three sets of his tentacles unfurling. Maria’s, too, were locked around his thighs, spreading him open for her. 

“My turn, Maria,” Alex finally said, patting her back. 

“He’s got a dick, too,” Maria pointed out, wiping her chin. Oh, yeah, this was messy. 

Alex chuckled. “She’s just mad because I like yours and not hers.” 

Maria’s tentacles and Michael’s both pinched him for that, and Alex cried “Ouch!”, laughing, as he bent down over Michael’s chest, getting his mouth on his cock. 

Michael keened loudly, hips arching up until both Maria and Alex held him down. “Oh--oh--that’s--ah fuck, a lot--a lot!” 

Alex hummed around his dick, and Maria moaned, both of them redoubling their efforts. They thought at once about making him wait for this, about bringing him to tears because it was so good, and they had to stop to look at each other to make sure they had actually connected telepathically or just imagined that. 

“Okay,” Maria said, wrestling Michael’s tentacles out of the way with her own, and curled the last set around the base of his cock, hard enough to turn it red. 

“Oh, _God_ ,” Michael moaned, head falling back, arms flailing, but Alex just held his wrists and kept going. 

They brought him to the edge like this and backed off until he whined, and then brought him to the edge again until he screamed. Maria felt his slit flutter against her lips, pulling back from that, too, so if he got any kind of climax from her mouth alone, it was ruined. 

“Damn it, please, _please_ ,” Michael was moaning, sweating desperately, but not quite crying yet. “I just--let me come on one of you!” 

“They’re separate?” Alex asked. “Two different kinds of orgasms?” 

Maria lifted her head, too--not what Michael wanted at all. 

“Well, like an anal orgasm compared to jerking off?” Maria asked. “I don’t have that equipment.” 

“ _Neither_ of you have that equipment,” Michael snapped. “It’s--it feels different, okay?”

“Oh, he’s only at anger, we need to work harder,” Alex pleased. 

“Please, please, I’ll be good--”

“Ooh, bargaining,” Maria laughed, sticking her fingers in his slit, and freeing some tentacles to slide them in and out of his asshole for good measure. 

“Ah, fuck! No, _oh, no_ , you don’t.” 

“Denial,” Alex commented, mouth dripping with saliva as he pulled off again unexpectedly, laughing. 

“Alex--Maria, please--” Michael begged, hips giving aborted little jerks, his voice catching as they brought him to the edge again. If there were _three_ different orgasms they could give him simultaneously, they were about to find out. “I’m gonna--I’m gonna--no!” 

Michael practically shrieked as they edged him again, ruining another orgasm. This time he stopped struggling altogether, lying back with a defeated little sob. 

“Easy, easy,” Alex said, stretching out beside him, gentling his hold. Maria lay on top of him, kissing his neck. 

Michael was definitely crying now, shaking with need. “Please, please, please.” 

“You know we’re going to make you feel good,” Alex whispered. 

Michael nodded, sniffing. 

“You gonna let us?” Maria added, voice low enough to rumble against his chest. 

A fresh wave of tears streamed down Michael’s face, but he nodded. “Yeah. Yeah.” 

They waited until he relaxed before resuming, again with both of their mouths and Maria’s tentacles stuffing both holes. They let Michael’s tentacles go, but all they did was lock around Alex and Maria’s arms, desperate and hungry for them. Michael was feeling so good, overwhelmed, and when they made him come and _let_ him come, he howled another sob and shook apart. 

Now Maria and Alex were left aroused but unsated, but Michael was utterly wrecked, still crying as his body wasn’t sure how else to bleed off so much sensation. They curled back up and around him, grinning at each other and kissing him, even kissing each other, too, tasting Michael on the other’s lips. 

Michael floated in bliss, his whole body tingling, barely able to move. He stopped crying shortly, and kissed them with wet cheeks. 

“I need to take care of you two…” he slurred, suddenly. 

Maria laughed, and Alex just kissed his temple. “You don’t need to worry about anything. If I’m in danger of getting blue balls, I’ll just roll you over and go to town.” 

Michael chuckled, and Maria shook her head, too. 

“You give us everything we needed. Seeing you like this is better than an orgasm,” she hummed, kissing him again, and toying with his curls. Michael’s eyes were dazed, his pupils huge, his smile dopey. “Those are fleeting. This memory is gonna stick.” 

Alex coughed. “I mean, I wouldn’t go _that_ far…”


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is just nonstop smut wherein Michael gets eggnant (imeggnated?)! If that's not your cuppa, you can skip ahead.

Maria had been feeling bloated all day, and hungry as anything, which might have explained the bloat. She already menstruated like a human woman, and was going to be mad if these were Antaran ovulation symptoms. Like, wasn’t  _ one  _ reproductive method enough for her freaky hybrid body? 

When she woke up horny, and a tumble in the shower with Michael just didn’t cut it, Maria figured something was up. Her ovipositors were all sensitive and sticky, too, swollen out of their ridges and—right, okay, they might have been kicked out because she had been overeating for like a week and actually  _ was  _ bloated. Ugh.

It took a lot of caloric energy, she figured, to build eggs inside her, so she figured that was where the food was going. She didn’t  _ look  _ bigger, and at her height, five pounds usually looked like fifteen, so that was a good sign. Still feeling like she was maybe being alarmist, she went to find Michael. 

Even on a ship as small as the  _ Pony,  _ there were three places he might be if he wasn’t with her—the engine room, the garden, or wherever Alex was. 

He turned out to be the first place she looked, kneeling between tomato plants, a smudge of dirt on his cheek. He looked up with a smile when she walked in, but it shifted to a furrowed brow when he picked up on her emotions.

“Hey, what’s up?” He asked, dusting his hands off and standing up to greet her.

“Hey,” she said, wondering if how sweet he looked right now with a leaf stuck in his curls was just his natural charm or her own hormones. “Ah, you got a second?” 

“Of course.” He glanced down at his hands then back at her. “I’d hug you, but my hands are dirty. Here, come over and sit.”

There was a bench at the back of the garden—Michael had made it himself on a particularly long layover, just because he could. He did things like that. 

They sat together, their thighs pressed together, until Michael pulled her legs over into his lap to keep them as close as he could. Something was different—she always smelled good, but right now she smelled  _ amazing,  _ but now probably wasn’t the time to get horny, not if something was wrong.

Maria made a little noise of delighted alarm as he scooped her into his lap, and she laughed and put an arm around his shoulders and decided to come right out with it. “So I think I might be, ah. Ovulating?” 

She pulled back to see his face. Her eyes were wide, ready for any reaction. 

“Oh,” was all Michael said, stunned into silence. He bent forward, pressed his lips against the side of her head, then her neck, then her shoulder, inhaling deeply the smell of sweet rain. He smiled against her skin. “Okay. Good?”

“That’s good, right? It means we can...try? I mean, it could be a case of the munchies and some gas. Or, like a tumor, I don’t know,” Maria said, and then giggled as his breath tickled her neck. “What are you doing?” 

“I guess we’ll know in a few days,” Michael said, a little dreamily. “Just—you smell amazing. Maybe that’s part of it too. I mean, this is my first time too, with the m—” He cut himself off before he said  _ mating bond.  _ Still too cringey. 

Maria laughed and grabbed his jaw to pull him into a kiss. He didn’t need to say it. “Guess we should go tell Alex. We need that baby gravy train—”

Michael groaned, dipping her like he was going to push her off his lap, but he just swept her into a deep kiss, strong hands keeping her braced, the dirt on them forgotten. When they pulled apart, he rested their foreheads and whispered, “Let’s go find Alex.”

"I think he'll appreciate the puuuun!" she yelped, as Michael suddenly swept her off her feet and carried her bridal style through the ship (so yeah, not normal weight gain, then). 

They found Alex in his room, plinking away on his keyboard. He didn't even look up as he said, "Let me guess. It's that time of the month?"

Maria gaped. "What the fuck, Alex. How did you know?"

He smirked at them, but the twinkle in his eye took any spite away. “I  _ can  _ sense the both of you, now, remember? Call it an educated guess.”

Maria frowned. “You let me freak out for  _ days _ ?” 

“I provided you with more food, actually,” Alex nodded. He  _ had  _ made cookies, that bastard! 

Michael leaned in to kiss him too. “So...how do you...I mean, what do you think? Are we all...still in?”

“We are headed towards New Roswell,” Maria said. “I know we’ll want to see a doctor when—if—I mean, we’re not in a rush, but.” 

“But we’re ready for a baby. And you two smell like rain,” Alex said, wrapping his arms around both of them. “So I guess you’re not talking like,  _ tonight _ , right? I’ll enjoy cold showers in the meantime.”

“Who says we can’t have sex in the meantime?” Michael  _ didn’t  _ whine. “I hate cold showers.”

“You  _ like  _ it when we make you wait,” Alex reminded him teasingly, tugging on his earlobe.

“Technically, Alex is the only one who ought to wait,” Maria pointed out. “We need his—”

“If you say ‘baby gravy,’ DeLuca…” Alex growled. 

She snickered evilly.

…

“Okay, Maria, I can’t—I need—please, will you just wake up—?” 

Maria was awakened by Michael’s insistent pleading, and a heavy smell of rain, and...everything was very wet. She knew this because her and Michael’s tentacles were already feeling each other up, and were very slick. 

“Rise and shine, DeLuca,” Alex said, already fully awake, as Maria blinked her eyes open. “I’m gonna make coffee while you two get started.” 

“Hey, handso—mmf!” Maria groaned as Michael kissed her awake. “Michael, sweetheart, easy, I haven’t even brushed my teeth yet.”

“Okay, but, like, hormones. The hormones don’t care, DeLuca,” Michael said. “You smell good. You smell so good. I don’t even care about the egg I just want to fuck, babe.” 

Maria laughed. “Well, good, because I don’t think we’re getting an—”

Then Maria sat up, and her hips  _ ached _ . “Oh, no. Okay, yeah, we’ve got something.”

Michael ran his hands over her hips, feeling the swelling at the base of each of her ovipositors, moaning appreciatively. “Oh. Ohh. Yeah, I want that. I mean, I want you to fuck me with every tentacle you have in every hole I got because—”

“Okay, okay, easy, Guerin,” Maria laughed, rolling on top of him. Massaging the pressure of the eggs at the base of her ovipositors felt good, and she moaned. Her tentacles were already active, wriggling, wet; she had practically been fucking him in her sleep already. “I’ll give you a quickie, but I’m gonna need breakfast before we move onto the main event.” 

“Yeah, yeah,” Michael said, spreading his legs for her. Grinding her hips down on him, Maria’s tentacles knew what to do, seeking out his holes and teasing them open, though the didn’t seem to require much persuasion. He seemed so very loose and pliant for her, or else her tentacles were just slicker and, perhaps, pushier. Okay, she was horny, too. Maybe because of how Michael smelled. He smelled like...like something she never wanted to let go. 

Her tentacles were already winding around his arms and legs, locking their bodies together. 

“Now I’m not one to say no to any bondage, but I really was serious when I said I wanted you to fuck me with all—oh!” 

Michael groaned, eyes rolling back as she opened him up with her ovipositors, already swollen beyond their usual girth. Filling both holes at least got Michael to stop whining, though he didn’t stop wriggling, which only made her other tentacles tighten around him. 

“I’m not doing it on purpose,” she huffed, kissing him. “They’re doing that on their own.” 

“‘Sfine, feels good, I just—I just need more, more, please. You smell—okay, Maria, your tentacles smell  _ really  _ good...”

Her tentacles crawling up his arms left slick behind them, as she buried more and more of her ovipositors inside him. His own tentacles were around his cock and fucking into her, or else tangled with hers, wriggling helplessly. He surprised her, when they broke from kissing, by turning his head to the side and licking the tentacle that had curled up around his shoulder. 

“Oh my God,” he said, because she tasted as good as she smelled, and “Oh my God,” she replied, because anything Guerin touched with his tongue was in for a good time, but now she was hyper-sensitive and so that felt  _ great _ . The tentacle surged into his mouth, oozing some kind of fluid that he moaned at the taste of. 

“Oh, you like that?” she asked, feeding him a little more, thrusting her swollen ovipositors further into him, getting off on just that. 

Michael just moaned and sucked on the tentacle. “It tingles. It tastes so good.” 

When they both came, they were pretty sure it was just from that, from Michael’s mouth on her tentacle and her ovipositors buried inside him. Alex returned to find them still locked together like that, Maria splayed out on top of him, their tentacles and limbs tangled. 

“Anyone want...breakfast?” he laughed. 

“Are you bringing it to us?” Maria replied, sitting up. Her ovipositors pulled out of Michael but wouldn’t retract all the way, leaving her sensitive, but she needed something to eat, and Michael probably did, too. 

Michael moaned softly, but nodded, getting up on one elbow. “Yeah. Hungry. Hungry and horny.”

“Okay, well, I’ve got food going. Whenever you two—detach—” for a moment Alex looked briefly disgusted, either by the heterosexuality or the tentacles, but he just shook his head, “I’ll be in the galley.” 

It was over a plate of scrambled eggs that Maria felt it best to bring up the elephant in the room: 

“So, speaking of eggs. I’m pretty sure my body’s making two. How safe do we feel trying for twins?” She let that hang before suggesting several options. “I think it’ll just be re-absorbed into my body if I don’t expel it, but I’m not sure I’ll be able to control that. I can just-like, dump it into the toilet, too.”

Alex looked at Michael when he didn’t immediately say anything. 

“I mean, gosh, I don’t care, it’s not my body they’re gonna be inside, Michael,” Alex said. “I’d be as happy with two kids as I would with one.”

Michael nodded. “Yeah, okay, that’s good. Would you be as happy with zero?” 

Maria and Alex gave him matching looks of surprise. 

“You don’t want to…” 

“No, no,” Michael said, looking pained, like he was confessing to a murder. “I just—the doctors warned me that there could be issues. Ah, malnutrition when I was going through puberty. So, they may not...take, you know? So it wouldn’t hurt to try to double-up, I think.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Alex said, getting up and wrapping his arms around Michael, feeling how stressed he was about this. “We’re just finding out about this now? I thought you said the doctor cleared you? Is this not going to be safe for you?”

“No, it’s gonna be perfectly safe for us—for me. I’m just worried if the baby doesn’t—”

“Michael,” Maria said, standing up and going to his other side, putting her arms around him. “There’s nothing to be  _ worried  _ about, love. It’s not your fault, no matter what happens. We’re not in any rush. We can try again.” 

“We could also adopt, very happily,” Alex said, rubbing Michael’s back. “Geez, I didn’t know you were worried about this. It’s gonna be fine.” 

Maria kissed the top of his head. “ _ Talk _ when you’re worried about things, you know.” 

“Come on, Maria. If nothing else, we’re going to show our partner a good egg-laying time,” Alex said, dragging Michael off toward the bedroom. 

...

“It’s not gonna fit, it’s not gonna fit,” Michael whined, his legs beginning to shake. 

“Oh, they’re gonna fit,” Maria said. “What happened to you wanting me to fuck you with every tentacle I’ve got?” 

That had been three or so orgasms ago for Michael, and a few for Maria as well, as it took more effort than they suspected to coax the eggs out of her body and down her ovipositors and into him. It also turned out her ovipositors had a mating ritual all their own, swelling up and stretching him out, and absolutely soaking him with a tingling slick substance that seemed to increase arousal—and stamina. 

Now they had Michael sandwiched between them, his leg hitched up over her hip and her tentacles vying for orifices to bury themselves in. Alex was helping to hold him open and still while he struggled weakly. 

“It’s too big, it’s too much. I can’t stretch any more.” 

“It’s not too much, you can handle this, Michael,” Alex said, kissing his shoulder. “You’ve taken bigger. Come on, my dick is bigger than that.” 

This was an obvious exaggeration that made Michael laugh, his holes tightening up again. 

“They came out of me. They can go into you,” Maria insisted. 

Michael moaned and buried his face in the pillow, and relaxed.

“You know, not to rush, but I’d also like to join in on the party at some point, too,” Alex grunted. He leaned down and bit on Michael’s ear, making him whine. “Or are you gonna be ruined for dick after those huge tentacles, hm?” 

“No, no, I want it. I do. Want your—” he huffed, “your huge cock,” Michael moaned, cutting himself off with a hiss as the egg reached the end of her ovipositor and pressed against his entrance. “Oh!” 

“Relax, Michael,” Alex purred, and “Relax,” Maria cooed. 

“Just let it happen. You can do this.”

“We’re here. We love you.” 

And Michael relaxed, and it was  _ in _ . 

“Ah! Fuck!” Michael cried in surprise, and then groaned long and low as he came again, another ruined orgasm, practically dry. “Okay, okay. It’s in. Oh, God, it’s—”

“How’s that feel?” 

“Ahh. Good. Good?” Michael shifted as Alex rubbed the thigh he was holding up, spreading him open. The egg wasn’t that big, outside of the ovipositor, really; they definitely had toys that were bigger, but this was psychologically bigger, more important. And, significantly, it was nestled right up against his prostate. 

“Just one more, baby. And then you get the  _ good  _ stuff,” Alex teased, mostly teasing Maria. 

“You’re a brat.  _ I’m  _ doing all the work here,” Maria said, sweating as she switched ovipositors. This one tried to give Michael the same working over the first one had given him, stretching him to accommodate the egg, but she hurried it along, using her hands to slide the egg down faster. 

“Excuse you,” Michael panted. “ _ I _ am definitely the one doing all the work here!” 

Maria laughed and kissed him, and Alex pulled his hair gently. They touched and teased and kissed him between them, wringing him out so that he almost didn’t feel it when the second egg slipped inside him. 

“There, see? Not so bad.” 

“They’re gonna get bigger,” Michael moaned, but yeah,  _ yeah _ , it felt good. Full, slick, satisfied, good. 

“Okay, my turn now, yes?” Alex said. He had been waiting his turn for a while—several days, technically—so Maria didn’t even complain as he yanked her tentacles out of the way like he was weeding a garden. 

“Make sure you’re aiming—” she said, but Alex only glared at her over Michael’s shoulder. 

“He’s like a Slip ’N Slide down here, DeLuca, I’m gonna practically fall in,” Alex growled, making Michael whine as he fucked him without preamble. Alex paused only briefly: “Wow, still surprisingly tight.” 

Since their tentacles were locking them all together, hers tangled around Michael and his tangled around Alex, Maria settled in, petting Michael’s hair as he whined, utterly spent, while Alex pounded him. Alex surprised everyone by going hard and long, fingering his asshole along with Maria’s tentacles and making Michael scream and come  _ again _ , and when Alex finally climaxed he came for several seconds and several thrusts longer than expected, impressing even himself, quite honestly. Maybe there  _ was  _ something in all those tentacle secretions. 

Michael was moaning and twitching distantly, far away from his body and yet never feeling more alive and in himself. Sure, he’d had good sex before, but now his hormones were all over the place, he had actually ingested some of that tingly aphrodisiac lube which he maybe wasn’t supposed to have done, and Maria and Alex had never put him through the wringer like this before, making him come like five times in one evening. He could feel the eggs inside him, the pressure not unlike a sex toy, but also totally different, definitely just as weird. 

He definitely couldn’t tell whose tentacles were whose, and whose dick was where—all he knew was when Alex pulled out all six of his tentacles on instinct shoved up inside his body, whether to move the eggs further in, or to keep all the cum up inside there to give the eggs a change to be fertilized. If he hadn’t come his brains out so hard so many times already, he might have wondered if this was how male Antarans self-fertilized. Whatever. Right now he just wanted to sleep. 

...

Michael waking was the first realization he had that he had slept. Whether from a nap or a coma, it was clearly some hours later, when his and Maria’s tentacles had relaxed somewhat. 

Maria was gone, so Michael rolled over, still half-asleep, and ground down on Alex. Alex who definitely had morning wood or a whatever time it was boner, and Michael whined because it wasn’t in his ass right now. 

“Alex, wake up. Your turn.” 

“Mm. Okay. Okay, I’m up,” Alex said, without even opening his eyes. “I thought we already…”

“ _ Again _ ,” Michael moaned, kissing his neck. They were both sweaty and sticky, and Michael felt full and bloated but in a weirdly good way, just enough to make him more horny and wanting to be more full. God, he wanted to be split in half still!

They lay on their sides, lazy, Alex spooning behind Michael and arranging him how he wanted him. Their movements weren’t graceful or sexy but more mid-hibernation lazy sex. And it felt  _ good _ . 

Michael moaned and giggled as Alex fucked him in the ass. 

“Just couldn’t stay away, huh?” 

“I don’t want any of your holes to feel left out,” Alex hummed against Michael’s neck. “Maybe after this I’ll fuck your throat.” 

“Fuck yes. I can’t believe I want more.” 

“I know, me, too,” Alex huffed. “I think that juice of yours did something… Sorry, I’m not hurting you, am I?...” 

“No, no, please. Continue. I just—not sure how much help I’ll be. Not sure I can  _ walk _ .” 

“I don’t need you to walk,” Alex huffed, warm in his ear, making lust spill down his spine. 

“Ah,  _ fuck _ ,” Michael groaned. “Alex please.” 

But then Alex giggled, too, touching the small swell of Michael’s belly that stood in the way of his reacharound. 

“This is cute. It’s like you have a beer belly. This is you in twenty years.” 

“Don’t sound so excited,” Michael teased back, gasping as Alex’s fingers very quickly made him come. “Oh, yeah,  _ yeah _ .” 

“You gonna be this horny until you lay these things?” Alex grunted, fucking him roughly now, and neither of them answered until Alex came too, with a groan, biting lightly into Michael’s shoulder. 

They lay together, now more sticky and sweaty but sated at least for now, breathing heavily but relaxed. Being horny apparently put Alex into a sappy mood, because he said, “I’m so glad you found us, Michael.”

Michael swallowed, too dangerously emotional too quickly to not be hormonal. “I’m glad you found me. And didn’t let me go.” 

Alex tucked an arm and a leg around him, and they drifted to sleep like that. 

...

Michael, whose appetite for food was variable, but tended to be poor, suddenly  _ had  _ an appetite now that he was “eggnant.” 

“Apparently the official term is ‘with egg’ or ‘pregnant,’ just to use the English term without a whole anatomy lesson,” Alex said, looking up again from one of Michael’s parenting books. “And the constant appetite for food and sex sounds pretty normal. The books just recommend caution, no strenuous poses or anything with excessive crushing.” 

“What if I crush the eggs under the weight of this entire goddamned pot roast?” Michael wondered. He had been smelling his own culinary creation for six hours, and this was a new kind of self-torture, because he was too embarrassed to admit that smelling food made him horny just like having sex made him hungry, now. It didn’t help that the size of his belly was pushing his tentacles out of their grooves, leaving them vulnerable and sensitive. 

It was a really good thing he had two willing, loving partners, but part of him still worried he was being too much for both of them. 

“Right, I’m just gonna hit the head again…” 

“All that pressure on your bladder?” Maria teased, but of course it wasn’t that. 

It wasn’t  _ only  _ that. 

He was going to rub his dick raw at this rate, having snuck off to the bathroom three times today, too embarrassed to ask for sex after two rounds this morning. 

“Michael,” Maria said, when they found him in the shower jerking off, his tentacles all in a frenzy. 

“Sweetheart,” Alex said, moved even to a pet name, because Michael looked vaguely in pain from this. 

“Tell us what you need,” she said, and then she was in his head, and then they were all kissing and getting naked in the shower. 

“Oh, my God,” Alex said, once he was in Michael’s head and got his answer. “You really do need it  _ bad _ . You’ve been just—what—doing this on your own?” 

“I mean, if it was morning sickness you’d let me deal with that on my own,” Michael pointed out, breathless, because Maria’s tentacles were already teasing him open and doubled around his dick. Her hands were holding his. 

“I’d still offer to hold your hair back,” Maria pointed out, kissing him hard enough that his head hit the back of the shower wall, meaning his legs were spread wide enough to get him down to her height. “Now, what? Should we make a rule that you can’t touch yourself and have to come to us when you’re horny? Just to keep you from going off on your own all sad and pathetic like this?” 

“Oh,” Michael said, or more whimpered, eyes rolling back as Alex got down on his knees, nudging Maria’s tentacles out of the way to get his mouth on Michael’s cock. “I promise I’ll—I’ll come to you when—when it’s convenient—noo!” 

Michael wailed as Alex pulled back, mouth open. 

“It’s never going to be inconvenient to make sure the carrier of our children is comfortable, Michael.” 

“Fine, fine, fine,” Michael gasped, tentacles curling around Alex, begging him. “Please, please, I need to come, like, at least twice before dinner. Maybe once after.” 

“How about we just keep going until you tell us to stop?” Maria suggested. 

Michael nearly sobbed, though whether it was in response to what Maria said or to Alex finally sucking his cock was unclear. “Okay, okay. Don’t stop.” He kissed Maria. “Please don’t stop.” 

Maria smiled. “We’ve got toys. We’ll make you beg us to stop.” 

…

Dinner was a little overdone when they got to it, and they really had to get out all the sex toys they owned. They wore down the batteries and left them charging up again while they limped out to dinner. Michael was exhausted but couldn’t stop smiling, and if he could barely walk, well, this was just how his life was going to be for the next month, he supposed. 


End file.
